t- V^ CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK; Being its Annals from the Earliest Recorded Events to the Hundredth Year of American Independence. By CRISFIELD JOHNSON. BUFFALO, N. Y. PRINTING HOUSE OF MATTHEWS & WARREN, Office of the **BiiJfalo Comynercial Advertiser." 1876. ' • Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by Criskield Johnson, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. I if I 7 i INDEX A. Abbott's Corners, 337, 355 Adams, Erasmus, 124 Adams, Joel, 123 Aigin, James, 232, 238 • Akron, 376, 386, 426 Alden, . . ..184, 296, 311, 356, 363, 389 Aldrich's Mills, 374 Algonquins (see Hurons). Allen, Ethan, 1 74 Allen, L. E. , 397, 402 Allen, \Vm., 144 American Navy, 240 Amherst (see Williamsville), 118, 125, 146, 171, 183, 389, 423 Ancient earthworks, etc., 20, 12 1, 124, 173 Anecdotes, 82, 89, 92, 117, 119, 144, 148, 151, 153, 164, 166, 168, 184, 188, 189, 191, 208, 209, 215, 230, 251, 261, 268, 275, 292, 303, 305. 309, 310, 319, 320, 326, 3T,S, 342, 343, 362, 393, 398, 405, 407, 451 Amsdell, Abner, 130 Angus and King's exploit, 217 Anti-masonry, 378, 385, 388, 410 Ararat, 366 to 370 Assembly, members of, 170, 205, 267, 300, 379. 385, 388, 394, 397, 401, 410, 412, 422, 426, 430, 447, 448, 449, 450, 452, 453, 458, 466, 479, 490, 505. 506, 507 Aurora, 123, 132, 173, 184, 297, 314, 387. 389, 411 Austin, \Vm., 185 B. Babcock, G. R., 406, 408, 440, 443, 447 Bar of the county, 342, 432 Barker, Zenas, 130, 172, 265 Barker, G. P., 401, 410, 433 Barton, J. L., 308, 405 Bass, L. K., 504, 505, 506 Battles, skirmishes, etc., 27, 54, 55, 62, 213, 217, 230, 234, 238, 245 to 250, 281, 286, 469, 471, 474, 481, 482,486, 491, 493, 495, 499, 500 Beaver, the ship, 58, 186 Bemis, J., 112, 130,152,208, 229 Bemis, Mrs., 255 Bennett, D. S., 505 Big Sky, 86 Big Tree road, 113 Bird, W. A., 324, 430 Black Joe, 84 Black Rock, 55, 103, 178, 182, 213 to 220, 234 to 238, 246 to 250, 308, 316, 33', 341, 351, 424, 446 Boies, Wm 299 Boston, 119, 121, 131, 142, 175, 190, 229, 306, 316, 359 to 302, 389 Boundaries of the county, 9 Brant, Joseph, .61, 75, 76 Brant, town of, 37b, 424 Breboeuf and Chaumonot, 25 Brown, Gen. J., 268 to 278, 289 Bull, Capt. J., 235, 236, 247 Burnt Ship bay, 53 Buffalo (see Black Rock), 83, 98 to 100, 114, 125, 147, 152, 162, 170, 181, 193, 250 to 264, 268, 279, 292 to 296, 300, 306, 314, 322, 333, .141, 346, 350, 357, 363, to 375, 388, 434, 447 Buffalo Convention, 437 to 439 Buffalo creek, 15, 63, 69, 75 Buffalo Creek reservation, 93, 100, 376, 422, 428 Buffaloes, 1 7, 25, 69 Buffum, Richard, 186, 332 C. Canal, Erie, 301, 311, 322, 353, 357, 370 to 372, 375, 400, 434 Captain David, 72 Catholics, 24, 25, 49, 386 Cary, Richard, 131, 174 Cary, Truman, 174, 306, 345, 422 Cary, Calvin, 259 Cat, nation of the (see Erie nation). Cattaraugus creek, 14, 64 Cattaraugus reservation, 93, 376 Cayuga creek, 15, 193 Cayuga Creek settlement, 173, 357 Cazenove creek, 15 Cheektowaga, 172, 423 Chippewa, battle of, 270 to 276 Champlin, Commodore, 240 Chapin, Dr. C, 116, 160, 200, 213, 216, 227, 239, 241 to 243, 245 to 254, 257, 2,32, 419 Cholera, 398 Churches and church buildings, 142, 145, 177, 180, 184,299, 317, 333, 380, 394, 399, 400, 401, 403 Clarke, A. S., 132, 145, 161, 170, 205, 293, 300, 315 Clark, James, 173, 192, 337, 361 Clans of the Iroquois, 30 to 33. INDEX. Clarence, 98, loi, 106, in, 118, 125, 133, 146, 154, 181, 183, 292, 35b, 400 Cochran, Samuel 174 Golden, 186, 383, 389 Colegrove, B. H., 332, 430 Collins (see Lodi and Gowanda), 142, 175, 188, 334, 389, 446 Colvin, Mrs , 122 Concord (see Springville), 143, 187, 189, 299, 334, 389 Congressmen, 179, 182, 224, 267, 293. 300, 315. 330. 354. 35«. 377. 3S4, 388, 397, 401, 410, 422, 430, 439. 441, 447, 449. 45°. 453, 45^, 478, 503, 505, 506 Colby, John, 311 10 313 Conjockety, Philip, .. . 1 17 Curnplanter, 81, 85, 88 Council on Buffalo creek, 76 to 82 County and City Hall, 512 Court-houses, 170, 300, 512 Cronk, James, 315,327, 332 D. D' Aubrey's expedition, 51 to 53 Devifs Hole, 54 'Devil's Ramroil, 106 Dudley, Maj. W. C, 182, 246, 249 Dutch, the, 23, 38 E. East Hamburg, 118, 122, 131, 142, 153, 173, 185, 191, 298, 441 Eaton, Rufus, 187, 189,307, 319 Ebenezer Society, 442, 454 Eddy, David,. .. 122, 201, 204, 267, 332 Eden, 175, 190, 201, 262, 299, 305, 333' 354 EUicott, Joseph, 97 to 109, 115, 168, 349 Ellicotl, Benjamin, 102, 300 Elma, 376, 429. 454 Emmons, Dr. C, 356, 426, 430 Emmons, Wales, 319 Eni^iish dominion 54 f^o 59 Episodes (other than battles), 40 to 44, 71 to 73, 76 to 82, 85 to 88, 145 to 150, 221 to 223, 25010 265, 311 to 313, 327 to 329, 346 to 349, 359 to 363, 365 to 370, 370 to 373, 381. 395, 397 to 399, 405 to 409, 413 to 420, 427 to 439, 442 to 444 Erie, old town of, 120, 129, 154 Erie, new town of, 35b, 394 Erie, Fori, 56, 228, 2b9, 279, 281 to 289 Erie nation, 19, 26 to 28 Evans, 123, 141, 176, 209, 318, 332, 333, 350, 354 E. Fair, first, 332 Farmer's Brother, 54, 79, 84, 89, 165, 232 to 23b, 239, 279 to 281 Fences, 139 Fenno, Moses, 183 Fiddler's Green, 299 Fillmore, Glezen, 177, 294, 317, 327, 3b3 Fillmore, Millard, 355, 384, 385, 387, 394, 397, 401, 410, 422, 42b, 430, 436, 439 to 44', 447. 45°, 460 Fitzgerald, Lord Edwaid, 71, 73 Forty-ninth N. Y. Vols.,4b4, 472, 480, 491 to 494 F'orward, Oliver, .... i8q, 267, 323, 345 G. Gazette, BufTalo, 194 to 20b, 223, 265, 314 Ganson, John, 46b, 478, 50b Genesee county, 109, 152 to 154 Geology, 12 Germans, 385, 394, 412, 427, 442 to 444, 454, 465, 511 Germans, (Pennsylvama,) 125 German Young Men's Association, 427, 510 Gilbert Family, b4 10 66 Gowanda (see Lodi), 441 Grand Island, 14, 211, 324, 327 to 329, 3bo, 402, 447 Granger, E.,117, 127, 170, 178, 200, 210, 233, 245 Gillett, J 147, 149 Greenbacks, origin of, 4b7 to 469 Griffin, the, 40 to 42, 185 Griffin's Mills, 311, 339 H. Hall, N. K., 387, 421, 431, 432, 44^, 511 Hamburg, 119, 141, 185, 201, 209, 2bi, 298, 389, 4+1, 478 Harris' Hill, 14b, 2b5 Hard Times, the, 41 1 Hastings, Chauncey, 350 Halchcis, Norman, 22, 28 Hatch, I. T., 397, 450 Haven, S. G.,..43i, 432, 441, 447, 449 Heacock, R. B., 193, 31b, 332, 374 Hennepin, F'ather, 40 to 42 Flitchcock, Alex., 172, 332, 424 Hodge, Wm., 130, 194, 253, 2b3 Holland, 145, 175, 189, 229, 298, 311 10313, 389 Holland Company, 84, 95, 107, 152, 170, 358, 378, 4" Holland Purchase, , .97 to 108, 152 Holmes' Hill, 144 Holt's execution, 393 Hopkins, Gen. T. S., 102, 125, 170, 182, 245, 294, 323 Horse bedstead, 135 Horn breeze, 1 79, 317 Hoysington, J 352 Hull, Capt. \Vm....i49, 150, 235, 251 Humphrey, A 145, 229, 323 Humphrey, F'ort, 229 Humphrey, J. M.,. ..450, 490, 503, 505 INDEX. 5 Husking bee, 163 1. Indians (see Iroquois, Senecas, Kahquahs, Eries, etc.) Indian land-sales, 74 to 82, 95, 377, 422, 428 Iroquois, 19, 26, 30 to 40, 42, 60 10 94, 163 to 169, 210, 231 to 239, 245, 262 J- Jesuits, 24, 49 Johnson, Dr. E., 180, 205, 293, 357, 385. 396. 398 Johnson, Mrs., 256 Johnson, G. W., 387 Johnson, Sir William, 49 to 59 Johnson, C. and O., 119, 121 Johnston, Capt. Wm. ...64, 78, 90, 150 K. ■ Kahquahs, 18, 20, 25 to 28 Kinney, 1). C, 118 Kirkland, Rev. S., 78, 83 L. Lancaster, 98, 118, 125, 172, 317, 357, 399. 401 Lafayette, 364 La Salle, 39 to 44 Landon, J., 147, 149, 171 Le Couteulx, L. S., 125, 170 Limestone ledge, 12, 426 Lodi, 374, 380, 441 Logging bee, 138 Love, John, 359 to 362 Love, T. C, 383, 385, 401, 431 Lovejoy, Mrs 255 to 257 Lundy's Lane, 276 to 278 M. Marilla, 376, 386, 429, 448 Marine aftairs, 40, 57, 296, 301, 307, 317, 351, 400 Marriages, 198, 209 Marshall, Dr. J. E., 293, 384, 398 Mather, David, 147 Maybee, Sylvanus, 100, 134., 151 Mayors of Buffalo, 396, 421, 425, 442, 446, 507 McClure, Gen. G., 241 to 244, 259 Medical College, 435 Mechanical Society, 201 Medical Society,. 200 Mobbing a hotel, 222 Monroe, President, 308 Moral Society, the, 295 Morgan's abduction, 377 Moseley, W. A., 412, 430, 511 Murders, 294, 326, 359, 393 N. Natural characteristics, 12 to 17 Neuter Nation (see Kahquahs). New Amsterdam (see Buffalo). Newark, burning of, 242 Newspapers, etc., 194, 224, 293, 314, i22>, 346, 358, 3«o. 385,402, 43'^, 444, 5" Niagara county, 153, 335 Niagara river, 14 Niagara, Ft. ,46, 48, 51, 53, 63,91, 243 Noah, M. M., 365 to 370, 402 North Collins, 175, 188, 320, 338, 446 O. Officers, county, 170, 182, 204, 227, 293, 300, 315, 333, 354, 357, 574, 383, 385, 397, 401, 410, 412, 426, 431, 435, 436, 439, 440, 447, 448, 449, 450, 452, 453, 458, 466, 478, 490, 504, 505, 506, 507 Old King, O4, 81 One Hundredth N. Y. Vols., 465, 473 to 476, 481 to 485, 494 to 497 One Hundred and Sixteenth InJ.Y. Vols., ... 477, 485 to 489, 498 to 502 Ontario county, 83, 109 Osborn, Mrs 145 P. Palmer, John, 100, 109 Patriot War, 413 to 420 Peacock, VVm 1 14 Perry, Commodore, . . . .226, 239, 242 Peter Gimlet, . . 164 Phelps, Oliver, 74, 78, 82 Pioneering, .... 134 to 140, 15O to 162 Plumb, Ralph, 374 Plumping-mills, 136 Pomeroy, R. M., 221, 264 Porter, Gen. P. B.,179, 182, 217, 219, 221, 227, 233 to 239, 241, 267, 283, 285 to 289, 292, 324, 341, 379, 383 Potter, H. B., 193, 323, 332, 301, 3^3> 367, 384, 385 Pratt, Samuel, 127, 147, 163, 213 Powell, Capt., '. .64, 65, 84, 85 Proctor, Col . , 85 to 88 y. Queen Charlotte, the, 209 R. Ransom, Asa, 91, loi, 106, 133, 146, 151, 170, 204, 227, 315 Ransom, Harry B. , 102, 410 Kathbun, Benj.,. 407 to 409 Rebellion, beginning of, 459 Red Jacket, 80, 85 to 89, 167, 210, 231, 239, 269, 271, 275, 276, 292, 303, 324, 347 to 349, 362, 304, 376, 382, 390 392 Recorder's Court, 426, 450 Reed, Israel, 258 Reese, David, 116, 169, 295 Relics 28, 124, 185 Revolution, tire, 60 to 67 Rice, Elihu, 189, 205, 268, 316 Richmond, Gen. E., 175, 2O7, 299, 301, 310, 346 INDEX. Root, John, 170, 265, 342 Russell, \V. C, 297 S. Sagoyewatha (see Red Jacket). Sali>l)ury, Aaron, 176, 209, 426 Sardinia, 175, 189, 265, 290, 332, 334> 350. 389 Scajaquada creek, 15, 83, 100, 247, 281 Schools, etc., 142, 143, 148, 173, 3^9, 399. 421, 435 Scott, Gen. Winfield, . ..267 to 278, 416 Settlement, 104 to 194 Senators, State, 205, 330, 374, 385, 401, 412, 430, 436, 440, 447, 448, ^ 450, 452, 453, 406, 490, 505, 50&, 507 Senecas, The, 19, 45, 47, 49, 52, 54 to 94, no, 163 to 169, 210, 231 to 239, 245, 2fao, 262, 269 to 27 337 Smyth, Gen. A., 216 to 221, 225 Somhwick, Geo., 187 Spaulding, E. G. , 467 to 469 Speculation, .... .400, 403, 405 to 408 Spencer, " Father," 290, 299, 310 Springs, stoned up, 29 Springville, 143, 187, 299, 319, 331, 389 Spy, Indian, 279 Stale reservation, ... 73, 99, 377 Staunton, Adjutant, 235 lo 238 Ste|)hens, I'limeas,. ... . 143, 208, 224 Stephens' Mills 243 Storrs, J aba, 170, 182 Sugar- luaking, 159 Superior Court and jiulges, . . . .450, 5^7 Supervisors, iii, 129, 146, 172, 175- >77, 193. 201, 226, 267,293, 300, 306, 314, 323, 330, 345, 354, 35^. 374, 375, 378, 383, 38b, 388, 394, 402, 410, 412, 421, 424, 431, 441, 442, 456, 467, 479, 490, 504, 507 Supreme Court justices, 435, 436, 448, 507 T. Taylor, Jacob, 142, 175 Tentii -New York Cavalry, 466 Thayers, the three, 359 to 363 Timber, original, 16 Tomahawk, anecdote of, 144 Tommy Jimmy, 303, 346 to 349 Tonawanda, 171, 183, 211, 246, 308, 357, 380, 410- Tonawanda creek, 14 - Tonawanda reservation, 93,376,422, 428 Topography, 13 Town meeting, first, Ill Tracy, A. H., 293, 315, 330, 354, 358, 377, 3«5, 401, 412 Trails, Indian, loi Transit, West, 99 Treat, Oren, . . . . 1 76 Trowbridge, Dr. J., 201, 227, 412 Tucker, Samuel, 187, 340 Tupper, .Samuel, .... 130, 170, 204, 307 Turkey, John, 320 Twenty-first New York Vols. 462, 469 to 472, 480 V. Vande venter. P., .... Ill, 129, 146, 171 Volunteers, 221, 228, 285 to 289, 459 to 503 \Y. Walden, E., 147, 170, 203, 250, 257, 258, 357, 361 Wales, 144, 174, 184, 297, 314, 330. 3^3, 3*^9, 393 Walk-in-the- Water, 316, 351 ■ War for the Union, 459 to 503 Warner, D. S., 297, 389 War of 1812, 207 to 290 Warren, Jabez, 1 13, 123 Warren, Gen.Wm., 132, 143, 151, 170, 182, 205 to 249, 261, 267, 285, 294, 298, 315 Warren, Asa, . . .268, 305, 316, 354, 412 Well and sweej), 157 White Woman, the, 60, 395 White's Corners, 337 Wieihich's Battery,. .465, 478, 485, 497 Wilber, Stcplicn, 188 Wilkeson, Samuel, 250, 264, 293, 307, 322, 331, 5S3, 350 to 353, 357 Williams, Jonas, .... 133, 204, 227, 267 WilliamsviJle, 102, 107, 125, 133, 146, 171, 183, 266, 292, 296, 386, 426 Willink, 120,129, 146, 154, 181,297, 313 Winney, Cornelius, 83, 88, 92 Wood, James, 184, 192, 363, 431 Worth, Gen. W. J., 279, 418 Wright's Corners 142, 298, 337 Wright's Mills, 318 v. Young King, 85, 167, 237, 295 Young Men's Association, 403 Errata. On page 50, read 1738, instead of 1858. On same page, read ijsg, instead of 1859. On page 54, read /76J, instead of 1863. On page 130, read Anis- dell, instead of Amsden. On page 184, read 1801, instead of 1810. INTRODUCTION. The "Centennial History of Erie County" is now presented to the pub- lic, after fifteen months of continuous labor, three more than I expected to occupy. That there are defects in it is a matter of course — especially as this is my first historical effort. It is idle, however, to apolo2;ize — people never pay any attention to apologies — the book will probably go for what it is worth, and must take its chances among critics and readers. Had T known, however, the amount of labor involved, and the very poor pay to be obtained, it is doubtful whether I should have attempted the task. If any one thinks it easy to harmonize and arrange the im- mense number of facts and dates here treated of, let him try to learn the precise circumstances regarding a single event, occurring twenty years ago, and he will soon find how widely authorities differ. Doubtless, the most fault will be found by those who think that their grandfathers have not received due attention — but there was such a host of grandfathers. If I had even mentioned the tenth part of them, it would have turned the book into a mere list of names. There are two or three towns of which I have not made as frequent mention as I had intended, but this is partly because those towns have furnished no re- markable crimes, nor astonishing follies, to shock or amuse the reader. The principal object of this introduction is to give credit where credit is due. Nearly all the first hundred pages of my history, and much of the next hundred, are drawn from Turner's "Holland Purchase," Ketchum's " Buffalo and the Senecas," and Stone's " Life of Red Jacket." The still later matter relating to Red Jacket is, also, mostly from Mr. Stone's work. The story of the "White Woman " is abstracted from Seaver's biography, while W. P. Letchworth's memoir of the Pratt family furnishes many incidents of early times. The sketches of the Twenty-first, One Hundredth and One Hun- dred and Sixteenth New York Volunteers are condensed from the his- tories of Mr. J. H. Mills, Major Stowits and Captain Clark. The record of the Forty-ninth is principally derived from Mr. G. D. Emer- son's published account. Mr. F. F. Fargo's "Memorial" has likewise been of much service, and I am indebted to Judge Sheldon, and Messrs. L. F. Allen and O. G. Steele, for valuable pamphlets ; and to Messrs. H. W. Rogers, of Michigan, and G. W. Johnson, of Niagara county, for interesting reminiscences. I am also under especial obliga- tions to my father, Mr. Wm. C. Johnson, for important assistance. To the Young Men's Association of Buffalo, I have to return thanks for the use of its files of early newspapers, and to the Historical Soci- ety, for similar privileges, not only as to its newspapers, but as to its vast number of pamphlets and manuscripts. I would also acknowledge the personal assistance, as well as aid from the libraries, of Messrs. G. R. Babcock and O. H. Marshall. 8 INTRODUCTION. But a great part of this history is derived from living lips. I would tender especial thanks for such aid to General William Warren, now of Orleans county, but for nearly seventy years a resident of Erie, whom I visited to consult, and whose memory of the stirring scenes in which he took an active ])art, is hardly dimmed by his ninety-one years of age. I would also cordially acknowledge the information received from the following ladies and gentlemen of the county — old settlers, their de- scendants, soldiers, and others — information embodied in some of the most interesting portions of the work before the reader : Mrs. A. S. Bemis, Mrs. A. C. Fox, Mrs. Dr. Lord, Col. Bird, Gen. Rogers, Gen. Scroggs, Col. Wiedrich, Rt. Rev. S. V. Ryan, Rev. Drs. Lord and Heacock, Wm. Hodge. F. W. Tracy, H. Wells, Dr. Dellen- baugh, E. C. Grey, J- Rieffenstahl and E. Besser, of Buffiilo ; John Simpson and Urial Driggs, of Tonawanda ; T. A. Hopkins, J. F. Youngs, Christian Long and John Frick, of Amherst ; Mrs. Lavina Fillmore, David Vantine, Lindsay Hamlin, Abraham Shope and Col. Beaman, of Clarence ; Mrs. Lemuel Osborn, L. D. Covey, Mr. Wainwright and Wm. Denio, of Newstead ; T. and J. Farnsworth and Mr. Hendee, of Alden ; James Clark, of Lancaster ; Major Briggs, of Elma; G. W. Car- penter, of Marilla ; Seth Holmes, P. M. Hall, W. C. Russell and D. S. Warner, of Wales ; Mrs. Judge Paine, Oren Treat, Wm. Boies, John Darbee, Erasmus Adams and Horace Prentice of Aurora ; Mrs. Sarah Colvin, J.imes Johnson, Wm. Austin, Thos. Thurber, Allen Potter and S. V. R. Graves of East Hamburg ; Israel Taylor, Abner Amsdell, A. C. Calkins, Dr. Geo, Abbott and Dr. S. H. Nott, of Hamburg; Mrs. Judge Salisbury, Mrs. Root, Col. Ira Ayer, Dr. George Sweetland, Joseph Bennett, John Hutchinson and Lyman Oatman, of Evans ; Mrs. Ryther, Miss Warren, Russell, Roswell and John Hill, and Morris March, of Eden ; Truman Gary, Edward Hatch, Ambrose Tor- rey and V. R. Gary, of Boston ; Mrs. Sweet, Thomas Buffum and Asa Gould, of Golden ; Alvin Orr, B. F. Morey, Leander Cook, Peter Colby and M. L. Dickerman, of Holland ; Mrs. Gen. Nott, Mrs. Hastings, Clinton Colegrove, Mr. Rice, Hiram Crosby and Jonathan Matthewson, of Sardinia ; Eaton Bensley, R. C. Eaton, C. C. Smith, C. C. Sever- ance, Geo. Mayo, Byron Cochran, Jeremiah Richardson and Rev. Mr. Wells, of Concord ; Mrs. Welch, Robert Arnold, Humphrey Smith, Isaac Hale, John Sherman and Geo. Wheeler, of North Collins: Ansel Smith, of Brant ; J. H. McMillan, Geo. Southwick, Augustus Smith, Caleb Taylor and Col. Cook, of Collins ; Mrs. Wright, B. F. Hall and N. H. Parker, of the Cattaraugus reservation. Three of the oldest and most prominent of those whom I consulted last year have since passed away from life — Dr. Emmons of Concord, James Wood of Wales, and Alex. Hitchcock of Cheektowaga. In many cases the information has been presented substantially as received ; in others, it has been so condensed and worked in with other matter as hardly to be recognized by those who gave it, but it is none the less necessary to the completion of a thorough history. C J. East Aurora, N. Y., August 23d, 1876. CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. CHAPTER I. THE SUBJECT. Beginning of Erie County's History. — When it was named. — Its Bounrraiies. — Its- Area. — The System pursued. The history of the county of Erie begins about the year 1620,. when' the first Europeans visited its vicinity. Before that time all is either tradition or inference. Afterwards, although the his- toric trace is often extremely faint, yet it is still to be seen, grow- ing gradually plainer for a hundred and eighty years, until in the beginning of the present century it swells into a broad and beaten pathway, trodden by the feet of scores of surveyors, of hundreds of pioneers, of thousands of farmers, of tens of thou- sands of all classes, conditions and nationalities. But Erie county was not organized with its present name and boundaries until 1821. The larger and the more interesting part of its history had at that time already taken place. It is neces- sary, therefore, to point out that the subject of this work is the territory comprised within the present bounds of the county of Erie, together with the inhabitants of that territory, no matter whether the events recorded occurred before or after the begin- ning of the independent existence of the county. The county of Erie, in the State of New York, is situated be- tween 42° 25' and 43° 6' of north latitude, and between 1° 30' and 10 BOUNDARIES OF THE COUNTY. 2° 20' of longitude west from Washington. It is bounded north- erly by the center of Tonawanda creek and by the center of the east branch of Niagara river (between Grand Island and the mainland) from the mouth of the Tonawanda to the junction with the west branch; westerly by the line between the United States and Canada, from the junction up along the center of the west branch and of the whole river to Lake Erie, and thence southwesterly along the middle of the .lake to a point where the international boundary makes a right angle with a line to the mouth of Cattaraugus creek ; southerly by a line from the point of intersection just mentioned to the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and thence up along the center of that creek to the crossing of the line between the fourth and fifth ranges of the Holland Company's survey ; and easterly by the line between those ranges, from the Cattaraugus to the Tonawanda, except that for six miles opposite the town of Marilla the county line is a mile and a quarter west of the range line. The range line is twenty-three miles east of the center of Ni- agara river at the foot of Lake Erie, and thirty-four and a half miles east of the mouth of Cattaraugus creek. The extreme length of the county north and south is forty-three and a halt miles, and its greatest width, including the lake portion, is about thirty-nine miles. The land surface contains one thousand and seventy-one square miles. Besides this it embraces, as we ha\ e seen, a considerable portion of Lake Erie, amounting as near as I can compute it to about a hundred and sixty square miles. This is not generally included in the county, but legally is as much a part of it as Tonawanda or Sardinia. The whole amounts to about twelve hundred and thirty square miles. I have been thus particular in designating the limits of the county in the beginning, in order to place the subject of this his- tory clearly before the reader. Whatever has existed or occur- red within those limits, or has been done by the residents of that territory, comes within the purview of this work, and if of suffi- cient consequence will be duly noticed. It will be necessary, also, to refer occasionally to outside matters, in order to eluci- date the history of the county and show the succession of events. Such extraneous references, however, will be very brief, and will be confined chiefly to a few of the earlier chapters. THE SYSTEM PURSUED. II When "Erie county" is spoken of previous to the organiza- tion and naming of that county, it will be understood that the words are used to avoid circumlocution, and mean the territory now included within the boundaries of the county. So, too, for convenience, the territory now comprised in a town will some- times be mentioned by its present name, before any such town was in existence. J 2 GEOLOGY. CHAPTER 11. NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS. Geology.-The Limestone Ledge.-The " Portage Group. "-Topography -Level ^and in the North.-Rolling Land in the Center.-Hdls South of Center- Fertile Lands in extreme South.-River and Lake. -Creeks. -Character of Forests.— Old Prairies. —The Animal Kingdom.— The Buffalo. Before narrating events. I will give a brief description of the theater on which those events occurred, and endeavor to answer the question : What manner of territory was it, the history of which began two hundred and twenty-six years ago .' To begin at the foundation. It is known that beneath the surface accumulations of various kinds of soil the earth is divided into rocky strata, of widely different natures, to which various names have been given by scientific observers. These strata are usually more or less inclined upward, and m common parlance they "crop out" at the surface, one above the other, somewhat like a number of boards, which have stood on edge side by side, and have then fallen down. Lay the clapboarded side of a house flat on the ground, and it will give some idea of the manner in which the geological strata overlap each other ; only they run back under each other for an unknown distance, instead of merely far enough to drive a nail. The strata which come to or near the surface in Erie county incline upward to the north. They all belong to what is called by our State geologists the " New York system," the rocks being analoo-ous to the Silurian and Devonian systems of European scientists. The lowest of the Erie county strata belongs to what is termed the " Onondaga salt group," and underlies all that part of the county north of the ledge described in the next sentence. Next above this comes the hydraulic (or water lime), Onondaga and corniferous limestones, which crop out in a ledge from thirty to sixty feet high, which extends in a direction somewhat north of east from Black Rock, in the city of Buffalo, through the south- TOPOGRAPHY. 13 ern part of the towns of Amherst, Clarence and Newstead, to the Genesee county Hne, and thence for a long distance eastward. In this stratum the water limestone and the common limestone are closely intermingled. Overlapping these limestones, what are called the Marcellus and Hamilton shales crop out in the central parts of the county, while still further south the rocks of the " Portage group " appear on the tops of the hills. The Portage stratum, like all the rest, dips to the southward, and in Pennsylvania forms the bottom of the vast coal basins of that State ; so that geologists declare that the whole of Erie County is too low in the geological sys- tem for any possible mines of that article. It is needless to observe that in 1620 geology was an unknown science, and even if the best educated of Europeans had found his way to the wilds of Erie county he would have understood naught of " strata," or " dips," or " Silurian systems." The other natural characteristics of the county would, however, have been visible to the naked eye, and the geological descrip- tion seemed a proper foundation for the rest. As to the topography, or configuration of the surface, of the county, it is extremely diversified. North of the limestone ledge it is almost a perfect level, and near the Tonawanda was origi- nally swampy. The soil is a deep alluvial loam, and the appear- ance of the country at the present time reminds the traveler of the broad, rich bottoms of western rivers. South of the ledge, for ten or twelve miles, the land, though more uneven than north of it, is not so much so as is usual east of the Alleganies, and in its cleared state bears a considerable resemblance to the upland prairies of the West. The soil is a clayey loam interspersed with gravel. A little farther south the surface becomes moderately broken and the soil gravelly. These are the characteristics of the cen- tral parts of the county. Still farther south the ground, except near the lake shore, begins to rise in hills, which at length attain a height of from seven to nine hundred feet above the lake. Between these hills run deep valleys, bearing northwestward toward the lake, and varying from a few rods to nearly a mile in width. The tops of the hills generally form level table-lands, covered with a stiff 14 RIVERS AND CREEKS. clayey soil, while a fertile alluvial loam is found in the valleys. Along the lake shore, however, and for several miles back, the land is as level and rich as in the northern portions of the county. As one passes from the table-lands just mentioned toward the northern boundary of the county, the surface descends, and a fertile, rolling territory again spreads out before him. Just before reaching Cattaraugus creek there is a range of steep declivities and rugged bluffs, now known as the " Cattaraugus breakers," which extend the whole width of the county. Below these is only a narrow flat, portions of which are often overflowed by the turbulent waters of the Cattaraugus. West of the northern part of this territory, the Niagara river runs in a very rapid current for a mile after it leaves Lake Erie, then subsides to a velocity of two and a half miles per hour, and divides into two streams about five miles below the lake, enclos- ing Grand Island, ten miles long and nearly as wide. Buckhorn Island, lying off the farthest point of Grand Island, continues the county's jurisdiction about a mile farther down, bringing it within three miles of the world-renowned cataract of Niagara. South of the head of the river, for six or seven miles, the nar- row foot of the lake crowds still farther eastward upon the land ; thence the shore trends away to the southwest, far beyond the limits of Erie county. Across the county run numerous creeks, the general course of all of them being westward or northwestward, and all finally mingling their waters with Lake Erie or the Niagara river. Tonawanda creek, as has been said, is the northern boundary of the county. Its length, according to the general course of its val- ley and aside from its lesser windings, is near sixty miles, thirty of which it has run in Genesee county when it strikes the north- western corner of Erie. On its way to the Niagara, which it reaches opposite the middle of Grand Island, it receives Murder creek, a stream about ten miles long, some four miles from the Genesee county line ; Ransom creek, about fifteen miles long, empties some twelve miles farther down, and just above its mouth the Tonawanda is joined by Ellicott or Eleven-Mile creek, which is not less than twenty-five miles in length. All, including the Tonawanda, head south of the limestone terrace, RIVERS AND CREEKS. 15 Murder creek breaking through it at the village of Akron, Ran- som's creek at Clarence Hollow, and Ellicott creek at Williams- ville. Scajaquada creek enters the Niagara two miles below its exit from the lake, having flowed about fifteen miles in a westerly direction. About a mile and a half above the head of the river the prin- cipal stream of the county flows into Lake Erie. This is Buf- falo creek, or Buffalo river as it is now called. It is composed of three branches. The main one, commonly called the Big Buf- falo, heads in Wyoming county, crosses into Erie after a course of a few miles, then runs northwestward about fifteen miles, and then westward fifteen or eighteen miles more to its mouth. Six miles from the lake it receives Cayuga creek from the north- east, that stream having followed a general westward course of about twenty miles. Two or three miles lower down it is joined on the other side by Cazenove creek, which heads in the extreme southeast corner of the county, and flows thirty miles northwest, receiving, about half-way down, the waters of the west branch, which have run in a generally northern direction for fifteen miles. All these distances are merely approximate, and relate to the general course of the respective streams, and not to their minor curves. Five miles south from the mouth of the Buffalo, Smoke's creek, a twelve-mile stream, enters the lake, and a mile or two farther up is Rush creek, which is still smaller. The north branch of the Eighteen-Mile creek heads near the south bounds of the county, not far from the head of the west branch of the Cazenove, runs northwesterly twelve miles, then nearly west about five miles, where it is joined by the south branch, a stream about twelve miles long, and then the whole flows five miles westerly, and enters the lake about eighteen miles from the mouth of the Buffalo. Eight miles above its mouth is that of the Big Sister, a stream some fifteen miles long. The Cattaraugus forms the southern boundary of the county for thirty miles, and it heads some ten miles east of the county line. Though it makes a considerable bend to the southward, its l6 TIMBER AND PRAIRIE LANDS. mouth is nearly due west of its head. Its tributaries in this county are all small, the largest being Clear creek, a twelve-mile stream, entering the Cattaraugus eight miles from its mouth. There are of course innumerable small streams, which cannot be mentioned in a mere cursory topographical sketch. Thus far the natural characteristics of Erie county are the same now that they were in 1620, and had been for unknown ages before, save that less water flows along the streams than when their banks were shaded by the primeval forests. Some new names have been applied by the white man, but in many cases even the names remain unchanged. The outward dress, however, of these hills and valleys is widely different from what it was two centuries and a half ago. In the southern part of the county the valleys were covered with beech and maple, the hills with oak and elm and occasional bodies of pine, and a little farther north with large quantities of hemlock. In the center the pine increased in quantity, the land on both sides of Buffalo creek and its branches being largely occupied by towering pines of the finest quality. It will be understood, of course, that these remarks refer only to the prin- cipal growths in the different sections, all the kinds of timber named being more or less intermingled, and numerous other kinds being found in smaller quantities. In the northern part of the county hardwood trees again predominated, the low grounds north of the limestone ledge be- ing thickly covered. Birch appeared in large quantities on the Tonawanda. But the tract running east and west through the county, for some ten miles south of the limestone ledge, was the most pecu- liar. Here the timber was principally oak, but a great part of the territory consisted of openings, or prairies, entirely bare of trees. It is difficult to ascertain their original extent, but there is no doubt that when the country was first settled, seventy-five years ago, there were numerous prairies of from fifty acres apiece down to five. Taking this fact in connection with the accounts of early travelers, it is almost certain that their extent had been gradually decreasing, and that a hundred and fifty years earlier nearly the whole of the tract in question was an open prairie. WILD ANIMALS — THE BUFFALO. 1/ This chapter may fitly be closed by a glance at the animals which originally inhabited the county of Erie, though possibly they ought to be described in the next one, under the head of " occupants." The deer strayed in great numbers through the forest and darted across the prairies. In the thickest retreats the gray wolf made his laii'. The black bear often rolled his unwieldly form beneath the nut-bearing trees, and occasionally the wild scream of the panther, fiercest of American beasts, startled the Indian hunter into even more than his usual vigilance. The hedgehog and the raccoon were common, and squirrels of vari- ous kinds leaped gaily on the trees. To include the whole ani- mal kingdom, here the wild turkey and the partridge oft furnished food for the family of the red hunter, pigeons in enormous quan- tities yearly made their home within our boundaries, numerous smaller birds fluttered among the trees, the eagle occasionally swept overhead from his eyrie by the great cataract, and, besides some harmless varieties of reptiles, thousands of deadly rattle- snakes hissed and writhed among the rocks in the northern por- tion of the county. Of all these there is no question. But there has been much dispute whether the lordliest of American beasts ever honored with his presence the localities which bear his name ; whether the buffalo ever drank from the waters of Buffalo creek, or rested on the site of Buffalo city. The question will be dis- cussed some chapters further on ; at present I will only say that judging from the prairie-like nature of a portion of the ground, from the fact that the animal in question certainly roamed over territory but a little way west of us, from the accounts of early travelers, from relics which have been discovered, and from the name which I believe the Indians bestowed on the principal stream of this vicinity, I have little doubt that the county of Erie was, in 1620, at least occasionally visited by the pride of the western plains, the unwieldly but majestic buffalo. For buffalo, not " bison," is now his true name, and by it he will invariably be called in this volume. If his name was ever bison, it has been changed by the sovereign people of America, (all names may be changed by the law-making power,) and it is but hopeless pedantry to attempt to revive that appellation. 1 8 THE NEUTER NATION. CHAPTER III. OCCUPANTS, NEIGHBORS, ETC. Early Missionaries.— The Neuter Nation.— The Eries.— The Hurons.— The Iroquois. Former Occupants. — Fortifications. — Weapons. — Inferences.— The French in Canada.— The Puritans in New England.— The Dutch in New York. As was said in the beginning, it was about the year 1620 that the first knowledge of this region began to reach the ears of Europeans. In that year three French Cathohc missionaries came to instruct the Indians Hving in Canada, northwestward of this locaUty. It does not appear that they visited the shores of the Niagara, but they obtained some information regarding the dwellers there, and that knowledge was eked out by the hardy French hunters and trappers who explored the shores of the great lakes in search of furs, preceding even the devoted missionaries of the Cathohc faith. At that time the county of Erie was in the possession of a tribe of Indians whom the French called the Neuter Nation. Their Indian name was sometimes given as the Kahquahs and sometimes as the Attiwondaronks. The former is the one by which they are generally known. The French called them the Neuter Nation because they lived at peace with the fierce tribes which dwelt on either side of them. They were reported by their first European visitors to number twelve thousand souls. This, however, was doubtless a very o-reat exaggeration, as that number was greater than was to be found among all the six nations of the Iroquois in the day of their greatest glory. It is a universal habit to exaggerate the numbers of barbarians, who cover much ground and make a large show in comparison with their real strength. They were undoubtedly, however, a large and powerful nation, as size and power were estimated among Indian tribes. Their villages lay on both sides of the Niagara, chiefly the western. There was also a Kahquah village near the mouth of Eighteen- Mile creek, and perhaps one or two others on the south shore of Lake Erie. "NATION OF THE CAT." I9 The greater part, however, of that shore was occupied by the tribe from which the lake derives its name, the Eries. These were termed by the French the " Nation of the Cat," whence many have inferred that "Erie" means cat; the further inference being that the city of Buffalo is situated at the foot of Cat lake, and that this is the Centennial History of the County of Cat. The old accounts, however, rather tend to show that the name of "Cat" was applied by the French to both the tribe and the lake on their own responsibility, on account of the many wild- cats and panthers found in that locality. " Erie " may possibly mean wild-cat or panther, but I believe there is no authentic ac- count of a separate Indian nation calling themselves by the name of an animal. Northwest of the Neuter Nation dwelt the Algonquins or Hurons, reaching to the shores of the great lake which bears their name, while to the eastward was the home of those power- ful confederates whose fame has extended throughout the world, whose civil polity has been the wonder of sages, w^hose warlike achievements have compelled the admiration of soldiers, whose eloquence has thrilled the hearts of the most cultivated hearers, the brave, sagacious and far-dreaded Iroquois. They then consisted of but five nations, and their " Long House," as they themselves termed their confederacy, extended from east to west, through all the rich central portion of the present State of New York. The Mohawks w^ere in the fertile valley of the Mohawk river ; the Oneidas, the most peaceful of the confeder- ates, were beside the lake, the name of which still keeps their memory green ; then as now the territory of the Onondagas was the gathering place of leaders, though State conventions have taken the place of the council fires which once blazed near the site of Syracuse ; the Cayugas kept guard over the beauti- ful lake which now bears their name, while westward from Seneca lake ranged the fierce, untamable Sonnonthouans, better known as Senecas, the warriors par excellence of the confederacy. Their villages reached westward to within thirty or fort}- miles of the Niagara, or to the vicinity of the present village of Batavia. Deadly war prevailed between the Iroquois and the Hurons, and the hostility between the former and the Eries was scarcely 20 EARLY OCCUPANTS. less fervent. Betwixt these contending foemen the peaceful Kahquahs long maintained their neutrality, and the warriors of the East, of the Northwest and of the Southwest suppressed their hatred for the time, as they met by the council fires of these aboriginal peace-makers. When first discovered, Erie county was the land of quiet, while tempests raged around. Like other Indian tribes, the Kahquahs guarded against sur- prise by placing their villages a short distance back from any navigable water ; in this case, from the Niagara river and Lake Erie. One of those villages was named Onguiaahra, after the mighty torrent which they designated by that name — a name which has since been shortened into Niagara. Li dress, food and customs, the Kahquahs do not appear to have differed much from the other savages around them ; wear- ing the same scanty covering of skins, living principally on meat killed in the chase, but raising patches of Lidian corn, beans and gourds. Such were the inhabitants of Erie county, and such their sur- roundings, at the beginning of its history. As for the still earlier occupants of the county, I shall dilate very little upon them, for there is really very little from which one can draw a reasonable inference. The L'oquois and the Hurons had been in New York and Canada for at least twenty years before the opening of this history, and probably for a hun- dred years more. Their earliest European visitors heard no story of their having recently migrated from other lands, and they certainly would have heard it had any such fact existed. The Kahquahs must also have been for a goodly time in this locality, or they could not have acquired the influence necessary to maintain their neutrality between such fierce neighbors. All or any of these tribes might have been on the ground they occupied in 1620 any time from a hundred to a thousand years, for all that can be learned from any reliable source. Much has been written of mounds, fortifications, bones, relics, etc., usually supposed to have belonged to some half-civilized people of gigantic size, who lived here before the Lidians, but there is very little evidence to justify the supposition. It is true that numerous earthworks, evidently intended for fortifications, have been found in Erie county, as in other parts EARTHWORKS AND PALISADES. 21 of Western New York, enclosing from two to ten acres each, and covered with forest trees, the concentric circles of which indicate an age of from two hundred to five hundred years, with other evidences of a still earlier growth. Some of these will be mentioned in describing the settlement of the various towns. They prove with reasonable certainty that there were human inhabitants here several hundred years ago, and that they found it necessary thus to defend themselves against their enemies, but it does not prove that they were of an essentially different race from the Indians who were discovered here by the earliest Europeans. It has been suggested that the Indians never built breast- works, and that these fortifications were beyond their patience and skill. But they certainly did build palisades, frequently re- quiring much labor and ingenuity. When the French first came to Montreal, they discovered an Indian town of fifty huts, which was encompassed by three lines of palisades some thirty feet high, with one well-secured entrance. On the inside was a ram- part of timber, ascended by ladders, and supplied with heaps of stones ready to cast at an enemy. Certainly, those who had the necessary patience, skill and in- dustry to build such a work as that were quite capable of build- ing intrenchments of earth. In fact, one of the largest fortresses of Western New York, known as Fort Hill, in the town of Le Roy, Genesee county, contained, when first discovered, great piles of round stones, evidently intended for use against assail- ants, and showing about the same progress in the art of war as was evinced by the palisade-builders. True, the Iroquois, when first discovered, did not build forts of earth, but it is much more likely that they had abandoned them in the course of improvement for the more convenient palisade, than that a whole race of half-civilized men had disappeared from the country, leaving no other trace than these earthworks. Considering the light weapons then in vogue, the palisade was an improvement on the earthwork, offering equal resistance to missiles and much greater resistance to escalade. Men are apt to display a superfluity of wisdom in dealing with such problems, and to reject simple explanations merely because they are simple. The Indians were here when the 22 THE FRENCH IN CANADA. country was discovered, and so were the earthworks, and I be- lieve the former constructed the latter. It has been claimed that human bones of gigantic size have been discovered, but when the evidence is sifted, and the con- stant tendency to exaggerate is taken into account, there will be found no reason to believe that they were relics of any other race than the American Indians. The numerous small axes or hatchets which have been found throughout Western New York were unquestionably of French origin, and so, too, doubtless, were the few other utensils of metal which have been discovered in this vicinity. On the whole, we may safely conclude that, while it is by no means impossible that some race altogether different from the Indians existed here before them, there is no good evidence that such was the case, and the strong probabilities are that if there was any such race it was inferior rather than superior to the people discovered here by the Europeans. The relations of this section of country to the European pow- ers was of a very indefinite description. James the First was on the throne of England, and Louis the Thirteenth was on that of France, with the great Richelieu as his prime minister. In 1534, nearly a century before the opening of this history, and only forty-two years after the discovery of America, the French explorer, George Cartier, had sailed up the St. Law- rence to Montreal, and taken possession of all the country round about on behalf of King Francis the First, by the name of New France. He made some attempts at colonization, but in 1543 they were all abandoned, and for more than half a century the disturbed condition of France prevented further progress in America. In 1603, the celebrated French mariner, Samuel Champlain, led an expedition to Quebec, made a permanent settlement there, and in fact founded the colony of Canada. From Que- bec and Montreal, which was soon after founded, communica- tion was comparatively easy along the course of the St. Law- rence and Lake Ontario, and even up Lake Erie after a por- tage around the Falls. Thus it was that the French fur-traders and missionaries reached the borders of Erie county far in ad- vance of any other explorers. THE ENGLISH AND DUTCH. 23 In 1606, King James had granted to an association of English- men called the Plymouth Company the territory of New Eng- land, but no permanent settlement was made until the 9th day of November, 1620, when from the historic Mayflower the Pil- grim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock. The English settle- ments were expected to stretch westward to the Pacific or Great South Sea, and patents were granted to accommodate this lib- eral expansion. In 1609, the English navigator, Henry Hudson, while in the employ of the Dutch, had discovered the river which bears his name, and since then the latter people had established fortified trading posts at its mouth and at Albany, and had opened a commerce in furs. They, too, made an indefinite claim of ter- ritory westward. It will be understood that in speaking of "the Dutch " I do not refer to the Germans, sometimes mistakenly called by that name, but to the real Dutch, or people of Holland. All European nations at this time recognized the right of dis- covery as constituting a valid title to lands occupied only by scattered barbarians, but there were wide differences as to its ap- plication, and as to the amount of surrounding country which each discoverer could claim on behalf of his sovereign. Thus at the end of 1620 there were three distinct streams of emigration, with three attendant claims of sovereignty, converg- ing toward the county of Erie. Let but the French at Mon- treal, the English in Massachusetts, and the Dutch on the Hud- son all continue the work of colonization, following the great natural channels, and all would ultimately meet at the foot of Lake Erie. For the time being the French had the best opportunity and the Dutch the next, while the English were apparently third in the race. 24 FRENCH TRADERS AND MISSIONARIES. CHAPTER IV. FROM 1620 TO 1655. The French Traders. — Dutch Progress. — The Jesuits. — De la Roche Daillon. — The Company of a Hundred Partners. — Capture and Restoration of New France. — Chaumonot and Breboeuf. — Hunting Buffalo. — Destruction of the Kahquahs and Fries. — Seneca Tradition. — French Account. — Norman Hatchets. — Stoned-up Springs. For the first twenty years little occurred directly affecting the history of Erie county, though events were constantly happening which aided in shaping its destinies. We learn from casual re- marks of Catholic writers that the French traders traversed all this region in their search for furs, and even urged their light bat- teaux still farther up the lakes. In 1623, permanent Dutch emigration, as distinguished from mere fur-trading expeditions, first began upon the Hudson. The colony was named New Netherlands, and the first governor was sent thither by the Batavian Republic. In 1625, a few Jesuits arrived on the banks of the St. Law- rence, the advance guard of a host of representatives of that remarkable order, which was in time to crowd out almost all other Catholic missionaries from Canada and the whole lake re- gion, and substantially monopolize the ground themselves. In 1626, Father De la Roche Daillon, a Recollect missionary, visited the Neuter Nation, and passed the winter preaching the gospel among them. In 1627, Cardinal Richelieu organized the company of New France, otherwise known as the Company of a Hundred Part- ners. The three chief objects of this association were to extend the fur trade, to convert the Indians to Christianity, and to dis- cover a new route to China by way of the great lakes of North America. The company actually succeeded in extending the fur trade, but not in going to China by way of Lake Erie, and not to any great extent in converting the Indians. By the terms of their charter they were to transport six thou- THE JESUITS. 25 sand emigrants to Canada and to furnish them with an ample supply of both priests and artisans. Champlain was made gov- ernor. His first two years' experience was bitter in the extreme. The British men-of-war captured his supplies by sea, the Iro- quois warriors tomahawked his hunters by land, and in 1629 an English fleet sailed up the St. Lawrence and captured Quebec. Soon afterward, however, peace was concluded. New France was restored to King Louis and Champlain resumed his guber- natorial powers. In 1628, Charles the First, of England, granted a charter for the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay. It in- cluded the territory between latitude 40°2' and 44°i5' north, ex- tending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, making a colony a hun- dred and fifty-four miles wide and four thousand miles long. The county of Erie was included within its limits, as was the rest of Western New York. The Jesuit missionaries, fired with unbounded zeal and unsur- passed valor, traversed the wilderness, holding up the cross be- fore the bewildered pagans. They naturally had much better success with the Hurons than with the Iroquois, whom Cham- plain had foolishly attacked on one of his earliest expeditions to America, and who afterwards remained the almost unvarying enemies of the French. The Jesuits soon had flourishing stations as far west as Lake Huron. One of these was St. Marie, near the eastern extrem- ity of that lake, and it was from St. Marie that Fathers Bre'- boeuf and Chaumonot set forth in November, 1840, to visit the Neuter Nation. They returned the next spring, having visited eighteen Kahquah villages, but having met with very little en- couragement among them. They reported the Neuter Indians to be stronger and finer-looking than other savages with whom they were acquainted. In 1 64 1, Father L'Allemant wrote to the Jesuit provincial in France, describing the expedition of Breboeuf and Chaumonot, and one of his expressions goes far to settle the question whether the bufi"alo ever inhabited this part of the country. He says of the Neuter Nation, repeating the information just ob- tained from the two missionaries : " They are much employed in hunting deer, biijfalo. wild-cats, wolves, beaver and other 3 26 DESTRUCTION OF KAHQUAHS AND ERIES. animals." There is no mention, however, of the missionaries crossing- the Niagara, and they probably did not, but the pres- ence of buffalo in the Canadian peninsula increases the likeli- hood of their sometimes visiting the banks of Buffalo creek. Up to this time the Kahquahs had succeeded in maintaining their neutrality between the fierce belligerents on either side, though the Jesuit missionaries reported them as being more friendly to the Iroquois than to the Hurons. What cause of quarrel, if any, arose between the peaceful possessors of Erie county and their whilom friends, the powerful confederates to the eastward, is entirely unknown, but sometime during the next fifteen years the Iroquois fell upon both the Kahquahs and the Eries and exterminated them, as nations, from the face of the earth. The precise years in which these events occurred are uncer- tain, nor is it known whether the Kahquahs or the Eries first felt the deadly anger of the Five Nations. French accounts favor the view that the Neuter Nation were first destroyed, while ac- cording to Seneca tradition the Kahquahs still dwelt here when the Iroquois annihilated the Eries. That tradition runs some- what as follows : The Eries had been jealous of the Iroquois from the time the latter formed their confederacy. About the time under consideration the Eries challenged their rivals to a grand game of ball, a hundred men on a side, for a heavy stake of furs and wampum. For two successive years the challenge was declined, but when it was again repeated it was accepted by the confed- erates, and their chosen hundred met their opponents near the site of the city of Buffalo. They defeated the Eries in ball playing, and then the latter proposed a foot-race between ten of the fleetest young men on each side. Again the Iroquois were victorious. Then the Kah- quahs, who resided near Eighteen-Mile creek, invited the contest- ants to their home. While there the chief of the Eries pro- posed a wrestling match between ten champions on each side, the victor in each match to have the privilege of knocking out his adversary's brains with his tomahawk. This challenge, too, was accepted, though, as the veracious Iroquois historians assert, with no intention of claiming the forfeit if successful. LAST OF THE ERIE NATION. 2/ In the first bout the Iroquois champion threw his antagonist, but decHned to play the part of executioner. The chief of the Eries, infuriated by his champion's defeat, himself struck the unfortunate wrestler dead, as he lay supine where the victor had flung him. Another and another of the Eries was in the same way conquered by the Iroquois, and in the same way dis- patched by his wrathful chief. By this time the Eries were in a state of terrific excitement, and the leader of the confederates, fearing an outbreak, ordered his followers to take up their march toward home, which they did with no further collision. But the jealousy and hatred of the Eries was still more in- flamed by defeat, and they soon laid a plan to surprise, and if possible destroy, the Iroquois. A Seneca woman, who had mar- ried among the Eries but was then a widow, fled to her own people and gave notice of the attack. Runners were at once sent out, and all the Iroquois were assembled and led forth to meet the invaders. The two bodies met near Honeoye Lake, half-way between Canandaigua and the Genesee. After a terrible conflict the Eries were totally defeated, the flying remnants pursued to their homes by the victorious confederates, and the whole na- tion almost completely destroyed. It was five months before the Iroquois warriors returned from the deadly pursuit. Afterwards a powerful party of the descendants of the Eries came from the far west to attack the Iroquois, but were utterly defeated and slain to a man, near the site of Bufialo, their bodies burned, and the ashes buried in a mound, lately visible, near the old Indian church, on the Buffalo Creek reservation. Such is the tradition. It is a very nice story — for the Iro- quois. It shows that their opponents were the aggressors throughout, that the young men of the Five Nations were inva- riably victorious in the athletic games, and that nothing but self-preservation induced them to destroy their enem.ies. Nothing, of course, can be learned from such a story regard- ing the merits of the war. It tends to show, however, that the final battle between the combatants was fought near the terri- tory of the Senecas, and that some at least of the Kahquahs were still living at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek at the time of the destruction of the Eries. 28 NORMAN HATCHETS. On the other hand, scattered French accounts go to show that the Kahquahs were destroyed first; that they joined the Iroquois in Avarfare against the Hurons, but were unable to avert their own fate ; that coUisions occurred between- them and their allies of the Five Nations in 1647, and that open war broke out in 1650, resulting in the speedy destruction of the Kahquahs. Also that the Iroquois then swooped down upon the Fries, and exter- minated them, about the year 1653. Some accounts make the destruction of the Neuter Nation as early as 1642. Amid these conflicting statements it is only certain that some time between 1640 and 1655 the fierce confederates of Central New York " put out the fires " of the Kahquahs and the Fries. It is said that a few of the former tribe were absorbed into the community of their conquerors, and it is quite likely that some of both nations escaped to the westward, and, wandering there, inspired the tribes of that region with their own fear and hatred of the terrible Iroquois. It is highly probable that the numerous iron hatchets which have been picked up in various parts of the county belonged to the unfortunate Kahquahs. They are undoubtedly of French manufacture, and similar instruments are used in Normandy to this day. Hundreds of them have been found in the valley of Cazenove creek and on the adjacent hills, a mile or two south of East Aurora village. Many more have been found in Hamburg, Boston and other parts of the county. They are all made on substantially the same pattern, the blade being three or four inches wide on the edge, running back and narrowing slightly for about six inches, when the eye is formed by beating the bit out thin, rolling it over and welding it. Fach is marked with the same device, namely, three small circles something less than an inch in diameter, each divided into four compartments, like a wheel with four spokes. The Kahquahs were the only Indians who resided in Frie county while the French controlled the trade of this region, as the Senecas did not come here, at least in any numbers, until after the American Revolution. These hatchets would be con- venient articles to trade for furs, and were doubtless used for that purpose. It is hardly probable tliat the Indians would have thrown away such valuable instruments in the numbers STONED-UP SPRINGS. 29 which have since been found, except from compulsion, and the disaster which befell the Kahquahs at the hands of the Iroquois readily accounts for the abandonment of these w'eapons. Some copper instruments have also been found, doubtless of similar origin, and, what is harder to account for, several stoned- up springs. Mr. John S. Wilson informs me that some thirty years ago he pushed over a partly rotten tree, over a foot in diam- eter, on his farm two miles south of East Aurora, and directly under it found a spring, well stoned up. There is no reliable ac- count of Indians doing such work as that, and it is a fair suppo- sition that it was done by some of the early French mission- aries or traders. 30 IROQUOIS POWER. CHAPTER V. THE IROQUOIS. Their System of Clans. — Its Importance. — Its Probable Origin.— The Grand Coun- cil.— Sachems and War-chiefs. — Method of Descent.— Choice of Sachems. — Religion. — Natural Attributes. — Family Relations. From the time of the destruction of the unfortunate Kah- quahs down to the time the Iroquois sold to the Holland Land Company, those confederates were by right of conquest the ac- tual possessors of the territory composing the present county of Erie, and a few years before making that sale the largest na- tion of the confederacy made their principal residence within the county. Within its borders, too, are still to be seen the largest united body of their descendants. For all these two hundred and twenty-five years the Iroquois have been closely identified with the history of Erie county, and the beginning of this community of record forms a proper point at which to introduce an account of the interior structure of that remarkable confederacy, at which we have before taken but an outside glance. It should be said here that the name " Iroquois " was never applied by the confederates to themselves. It was first used by the French, and, though said to have been formed from two In- dian words, its meaning is veiled in obscurity. The men of the Five Nations called themselves " Hedonosaunee," which means literally, "They form a cabin;" describing in this expressive manner the close union existing among them. The Indian name just quoted is more liberally and more commonly ren- dered, "The Teople of the Long House;" which is more fully descriptive of the confederacy, though not quite so accurate a translation. The central and unique characteristic of the Iroquois league was not the mere fact of five separate tribes being confederated together; for such unions have been frequent among civilized and half-civilized peoples, though little known among the sav- THE SYSTEM OF CLANS. 3 1 ages of America. The feature that distinguished the People of the Long House from all the world beside, and which at the same time bound together all these ferocious warriors as with a living chain, was the system of clans, extending through all the different tribes. Although this clan-system has been treated of in many works, there are, doubtless, thousands of readers who have often heard of the warlike success and outward greatness of the Iroquois confederacy, but are unacquainted with the inner league which was its distinguishing characteristic, and without which it would in all probability have met, at an early day, with the fate of numerous similar alliances. The word " clan " has been adopted as the most convenient one to designate the peculiar artificial families about to be de- scribed, but the Iroquois clan was widely different from the Scottish one, all the members of which owed undivided allegi- ance to a single chief, for whom they were ready to fight against all the world. Yet " clan " is a much better word than " tribe," which is sometimes used, as that is the designation ordinarily applied to a separate Indian nation. The people of the Iroquois confederacy were divided into eight clans, or families, the names of which were as follows : Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron and Hawk. Accounts differ, some declaring that every clan extended through all the tribes, and others that only the Wolf, Bear and Turtle clans did so, the rest being restricted to a lesser number of tribes. It is certain, however, that each tribe, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas or Senecas, contained a part of the three clans named, and of several of the others. Each clan formed a large artificial family, modeled on the natural family. All the members of the clan, no matter how widely separated among the tribes, were considered as brothers and sisters to each other, and were forbidden to intermarry. This prohibition, too, was strictly enforced by public opinion. All the clan being thus taught from earliest infancy that they belonged to the same family, a bond of the strongest kind was created throughout the confederacy. The Oneida of the Wolf clan had no sooner appeared among the Cayugas, than those of the same clan claimed him as their special guest, and admitted 2,2 ORIGIN OF CLANS. him to the most confidential intimacy. The Senecas of the Turtle clan might wander to the country of the Mohawks, at the farthest extremity of the Long House, and he had a claim upon his brother Turtles which they would not dream of repudiating. Thus the whole confederacy was linked together. If at any time there appeared a tendency toward conflict between the different tribes, it was instantly checked by the thought that, if persisted in, the hand of the Heron must be lifted against his brother Heron ; the hatchet of the Bear might be buried in the brain of his kinsman Bear. And so potent was the feeling that for at least two hundred years, and until the power of the league was broken by overwhelming outside force, there was no serious dissension between the tribes of the Iroquois. It is quite probable that this system of clans was an entirely artificial but most skillful device, and was the work of some soli- tary forest-statesman, the predominant genius of his age. It has little of the appearance of a gradual growth, as will be seen by noticing some of the circumstances. The names of the different nations of the confederacy, like those of other Indian tribes, have no uniformity of meaning, and were evidently adopted from time to time, as other names are adopted, from natural fitness. None of them were taken from any animal, and the adoption of the names of animals was never customary, so far as separate tribes of Indians were concerned. But the names of the clans are all taken from the animal creation — four beasts, three birds and a reptile ; and this uniformity at once suggests that they were all applied at the same time. The uniqueness of the clan-system, too, tends to show that it was an artificial invention, expressly intended to prevent dissension among the confederates. Nothing like it has ever grown up among any other people in the world. The Scotch, as has been said, had their clans, but these were merely the natural development of the original families. Al- though the members of each clan were all supposed to be more or less related, yet, instead of marriage being forbidden within their own limits, they rarely married outside of them. All the loyalty of the people was concentrated on their chief, and, in- stead of being bonds of union, so far as the nation at large was concerned, they were nurseries of faction. "THE ROMANS OF THE NEW WORLD." 33 The Romans had their gens, but these, too, were merely nat- ural families increased by adoption, and, like the Scottish clans, instead of binding together dissevered sections, they served under the control of aspiring leaders as seed-plots of dissension and even of civil war. If one can imagine the Roman gens ex- tending through all the nations of the Grecian confederacy, he will have an idea of the Iroquois system, and had such been the fact it is more than probable that that confederacy would have survived the era of its actual downfall. Iroquois tradition ascribes the founding of the league to an Onondaga chieftain named Tadodahoh. Such traditions, however, are of very little value. A person of that name may or may not have founded the confederacy. He may have been the originator of the clan-system, which appears much more like the work of a single genius than does the league of tribes. This latter is most likely to have begun with two or three weak tribes, and to have increased in the natural manner by the addi- tion of others. Whether the Hedonosaunee were originally superior in valor and eloquence to their neighbors cannot now be ascertained. Probably not. But their talent for practical statesmanship gave them the advantage in war, and success made them self-confi- dent and fearless. The business of the league was necessarily transacted in a congress of sachems, and this fostered oratorical powers, until at length the Iroquois were famous among a hun- dred rival nations for wisdom, courage and eloquence, and were justly denominated by Volney, " The Romans of the New World." Aside from the clan-system just described, which was entirely unique, the Iroquois league had some resemblance to the great American Union which succeeded and overwhelmed it. The central authority was supreme on questions of peace and war, and on all others relating to the general welfare of the confeder- acy, while the tribes, like the States, reserved to themselves the management of their ordinary affairs. In peace all power was confided to "sachems;" in war, to " chiefs." The sachems of each tribe acted as its rulers in the few matters which required the exercise of civil authority. These same rulers also met in congress to direct the affairs 34 SACHEMS AND WAR-CHIEFS. of the confederacy. There were fifty in all, of whom the Mo- hawks had nine, the Oneidas nine, the Onondagas fourteen, the Cayugas ten, and the Senecas eight. These numbers, however, did not give proportionate power in the congress of the league, for all the nations were equal there. There was in each tribe the same number of war-chiefs as sa- chems, and these had absolute authority in time of war. When a council assembled, each sachem had a war-chief standing be- hind him to execute his orders. But in a war party the war- chief commanded and the sachem took his place in the ranks. This was the system in its simplicity. Some time after the arrival of the Europeans they seem to have fallen into the habit of electing chiefs — not war-chiefs — as counselors to the sachems, who in time acquired equality of power with them, and were considered as their equals by the whites in the making of treaties. It is difficult to learn the truth regarding a political and so- cial system which was not preserved by any written record. As near, however, as can be ascertained, the Onondagas had a cer- tain preeminence in the councils of the league, at least to the extent of always furnishing a grand sachem, whose authority, however, was of a very shadowy description. It is not certain that he even presided in the congress of sachems. That con- gress, however, always met at the council-fire of the Onondagas. This was the natural result of their central position, the Mo- hawks and Oneidas being to the east of them, the Cayugas and Senecas to the west. The Senecas were unquestionably the most powerful of all the tribes, and, as they were located at the western extremity of the confederacy, they had to bear the brunt of war when it was assailed by its most formidable foes, who dwelt in that quarter. It would naturally follow that the principal war-chief of the league should be of the Seneca Nation, and such is said to have been the case, though over this, too, hangs a shade of doubt. As among many other savage tribes,- the right of heirship was in the female line. A man's heirs were his brother (that is to say, his mother's son) and his sister's son ; never his own son, nor his brother's son. The few articles which constituted an Indian's personal property, even his bow and tomahawk, never METHOD OF DESCENT. 35 descended to the son of him who had wielded them. Titles, so far as they were hereditary at all, followed the same law of descent. The child also followed the clan and tribe of the mother. The object was evidently to secure greater certainty that the heir would be of the blood of his deceased kinsman. It is not supposed to require near as wise a boy to know his mother as his father. The result of the application of this rule to the Iroquois sys- tem of clans was that if a particular sachemship or chieftaincy was once established in a certain clan of a certain tribe, in that clan and tribe it was expected to remain forever. Exactly how it was filled when it became vacant is a matter of some doubt, but as near as can be learned it was done by the warriors of the clan, and then the person so chosen was "raised up" by the congress of sachems. If, for instance, a sachemship belonging to the Wolf clan of the Seneca tribe became vacant, it could only be filled by some one of the Wolf clan of the Seneca tribe. A clan-council was called, and as a general rule the heir of the deceased was chosen to his place ; to wit, one of his brothers, or one of his sister's sons, or even some more distant relative on the mother's side. But there was no positive law, and the warriors might discard all these and elect some one entirely unconnected with the deceased. A grand council of the confederacy was then called, at which the new sachem was formally " raised up," or as we should say, "inaugurated" in his office. While there was no unchangeable custom compelling the clan- council to select one of the heirs of the deceased as his succes- sor, yet the tendency was so strong in that direction that an infant was frequently selected, a guardian being appointed to perform the functions of the office till the youth should reach the proper age to do so. Notwithstanding the modified system of hereditary power in vogue, the constitution of every tribe was essentially republican. Warriors, old men, and even women, attended the council, and made their influence felt. Neither in the government of the confederacy nor of the tribes was there any such thing as tyr- anny over the people, though there was plenty of tyranny by the league over conquered nations. 36 RELIGION AND MORALS. In fact there was very little government of any kind, and very little need of any. There were substantially no property inter- ests to guard, all land being in common, and each man's per- sonal property being limited to a bow, a tomahawk and a few deer skins. Liquor had not yet lent its disturbing influence, and few quarrels were to be traced to the influence of woman, for the American Indian is singularly free from the warmer pas- sions. His principal vice is an easily-aroused and unlimited hatred, but the tribes were so small and enemies so convenient, that there was no difficulty in gratifying this feeling outside his own nation. The consequence was that the war-parties of the Iroquois were continually shedding the blood of their foes, but there was very little quarreling at home. They do not appear to have had any class especially set apart for religious services, and their religious creed was limited to a somewhat vague belief in the existence of a " Great Spirit," and several inferior but very potent evil spirits. They had a few simple ceremonies, consisting largely of dances, one called the "green corn dance," performed at the time indicated by its name, and others at other seasons of the year. From a very early date their most important religious ceremony has been the " burning of the white dog," when an unfortunate canine of the requisite color is sacrificed by one of the chiefs. To this day the pagans among them still perform this rite. Aside from their political wisdom, and the valor and eloquence developed by it, the Iroquois were not greatly different from the other Indians of North America. In common with their fellow- savages they have been termed "fast friends and bitter enemies." They were a great deal stronger enemies than friends. Revenge was the ruling passion of their nature, and cruelty was their abiding characteristic. Revenge and cruelty are the worst at- tributes of human nature, and it is idle to talk of the goodness of men who roasted their captives at the stake. All Indians were faithful to their own tribes, and the Iroquois were faithful to their confederacy, but outside these limits their friendship could not be counted on, and treachery was always to be appre- hended in dealing with them. In their family relations they were not harsh to their children, and not wantonly so to their wives, but the men were invariably FAMILY RELATIONS. 37 indolent, and all labor was contemptuously abandoned to the weaker sex. They were not an amorous race, but could hardly be called a moral one. They were in that respect merely apa- thetic. Their passions rarely led them into adultery, and mer- cenary prostitution was entirely unknown, but they were not sensitive on the question of purity, and readily permitted their maidens to form the most fleeting alliances with distinguished visitors. Polygamy, too, was practiced, though in what might be called moderation. Chiefs and eminent warriors usually had two or three wives ; .rarely more. They could be divorced at will by their lords, but the latter seldom availed themselves of their privilege. These latter characteristics the Iroquois had in common with the other Indians of North America, but their wonderful politico- social league and their extraordinary success in war were the especial attributes of the People of the Long House, for a hun- dred and thirty years the masters, and for more than two cen- turies the occupants, of the county of Erie. 38 THE IROQUOIS TRIUMPHANT. CHAPTER VI. FROM 1655 TO 1679. The Iroquois triumphant. — Obliteration of Dutch Power. — French Progress. — La Salle visits the Senecas. — Greenhalph's Estimates. — La Salle on the Niagara. — Building of the Griffin. — It enters Lake Erie. — La Salle's Subsequent Ca- reer.— The Prospect in 1679. From the time of the destruction of the Kahquahs and Eries the Iroquois lords of Erie county went forth conquering and to conquer. This was probably the day of their greatest glory. Stimulated but not yet crushed by contact with the white man, they stayed the progress of the French into their territories, they negotiated on equal terms with the Dutch and English, and, having supplied themselves with the terrible arms of the pale- faces, they smote with direst vengeance whomsoever of their own race were so unfortunate as to provoke their wrath. On the Susquehanna, on the Allegany, on the Ohio, even to the Mississippi in the west and the Savannah in the south, the Iroquois bore their conquering arms, filling with terror the dwell- ers alike on the plains of Illinois and in the glades of Carolina. They strode over the bones of the slaughtered Kahquahs to new conquests on the great lakes beyond, even to the foaming cas- cades of Michillimacinac, and the shores of the mighty Supe- rior. They inflicted such terrible defeat upon the Hurons, des- pite the alliance of the latter with the French, that many of the conquered nation sought safety on the frozen borders of Hud- son's Bay. In short, they triumphed on every side, save only where the white man came, and even the white man was for a time held at bay by these fierce confederates. Of the three rivals, the French and Dutch opened a great fur- trade with the Indians, while the New Englanders devoted them- selves principally to agriculture. In 1664, the English conquered New Amsterdam, and in 1670 their conquest was made perma- nent. Thus the three competitors for empire were reduced to two. The Dutch Lepidus of the triumvirate was gotten rid of, FRENCH PROGRESS. 39 and henceforth the contest was to be between the Anglo-Saxon Octavius and the GalHc Antony. Charles the Second, then King of England, granted the con- quered province to his brother James, Duke of York, from whom it was called New York. This grant comprised all the lands along the Hudson, with an indefinite amount westward, thus overlapping the previous grant of James the First to the Ply- mouth Company, and the boundaries of Massachusetts by the charter of Charles the First, and laying the foundation for a con- flict of jurisdiction which was afterwards to have important effects on the destinies of Western New York. The French, if poor farmers, were indefatigable fur-traders and missionaries ; but their priests and fur-buyers mostly pur- sued a route north of this locality, for here the fierce Senecas guarded the shores of the Niagara, and they like all the rest of the Iroquois were ever unfriendly, if not actively hostile, to the French. By 1665, trading-posts had been established at Mich- illimacinac. Green Bay, Chicago and St. Joseph, but the route past the falls of Niagara was seldom traversed, and then only by the most adventurous of the French traders, the most devoted of the Catholic missionaries. But a new era was approaching. Louis the Fourteenth was king of France, and his great minister, Colbert, was anxious to extend the power of his royal master over the unknown regions of North America. In 1669, La Salle, whose name was soon to be indissolubly united to the annals of Erie county, visited the Senecas with only two companions, finding their four princi- pal villages from ten to twenty miles southerly from Rochester, scattered over portions of the present counties of Monroe, Livingston and Ontario. In 1673, the missionaries Marquette and Joliet pushed on beyond the farthest French posts, and erected the emblem of Christian salvation on the shore of the Father of Waters. In 1677, Wentworth Greenhalph, an Englishman, visited all the Five Nations, finding the same four towns of the Senecas described by the companions of La Salle. Greenhalph made very minute observations, counting the houses of the Indians, and reported the Mohawks as having three hundred warriors, the Oneidas two hundred, the Onondagas three hundred and 40 LA SALLE ON THE NLVGARA. fifty, the Cayugas three hundred, and the Senecas a thousand. It will be seen that the Senecas, the guardians of the western door of the Long House, numbered, according to Greenhalph's computation, nearly as many as all the other tribes of the con- federacy combined, and other accounts show that he was not far from correct. In the month of January, 1679, there arrived at the mouth of the Niagara Robert Cavalier de La Salle, a Frenchman of good family, thirty-five years of age, and one of the most gal- lant, devoted and adventurous of all the bold explorers who under many difi'erent banners opened the new world to the knowledge of the old. Leaving his native Rouen at the age of twenty-two, he had ever since been leading a life of adventure in America, having in 1669, as already mentioned, penetrated almost alone to the strongholds of the Senecas. In 1678, he had received from King Louis a commission to discover the western part of New France. He Avas authorized to build such forts as might be necessary, but at his own expense, being granted certain privileges in return, the principal of which appears to have been the right to trade in buffalo skins. The same year he had made some preparations, and in the fall had sent the Sieur de La Motte and Father Hennepin (the priest and historian of his expedition) in advance, to the mouth of the Niagara. La Motte soon returned. As soon as La Salle arrived, he went two leagues above the Falls, built a rude dock, and laid the keel of a vessel with which to navigate the upper lakes. Strangely enough Hennepin does not state on which bank of the Niagara this dock was situated, but it is deemed certain by those who have examined the ques- tion, especially by O. H. Marshall, Esq., the best authority in the county on matters of early local history, that it was on the east side, at the mouth of Cayuga creek, in Niagara county, and in accordance with that view the little village which has been laid out there has received the appellation of " La Salic." Hennepin distinctly mentions a small village of Senecas situated at the mouth of the Niagara, and it is plain from his whole narrative that the Iroquois were in possession of the entire country along the river, and watched the movement with unceasing jealousy. LA SALLE AND HIS COMRADES. 4I The work was carried on throus^h the winter, two Indians of the Wolf clan of the Senecas being employed to hunt deer for the French party, and in the spring the vessel was launched, " after having," in the words of Father Hennepin, " been blessed according to the rites of our Church of Rome." The new ship, was named " Le Griffon " (The Griffin) in compliment to the Count de Frontenac, minister of the French colonies, whose coat of arms was ornamented with representations of that mythical beast. For several months the Griffin remained in the Niagara, between the place where it was built and the rapids at the head of the river. Meanwhile Father Hennepin returned to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) and obtained two priestly assistants,, and La Salle superintended the removal of the armament and stores from below the Falls. When all was ready the attempt was made, and several times repeated, to ascend the rapids above Black Rock, but \\ ithout success. At length, on the seventh day of August, 1679, a favorable wind sprung up from the northeast, all the Griffin's sails were set, and again it approached the troublesome rapids. It was a dimunitive vessel compared with the leviathans of the deep which now navigate these inland seas, but was a mar- vel in view of the difficulties under which it had been built. It was of sixty tons burthen, completely furnished with anchors and other equipments, and armed with seven small cannon, all of which had been transported by hand around the cataract. There were thirty-four men on board the Griffin, all French- men with a single exception. There was the intrepid La Salle, a blue-eyed, fair-faced, ring- leted cavalier, a man fitted to grace the salons of Paris, yet now eagerly pressing forward to dare the hardships of unknown seas and savage lands. A born leader of men, a heroic subduer of nature, the gallant Frenchman for a brief time passes along the border of our county, and then disappears in the western wilds where he w'as eventually to find a grave. There was Tonti, the solitary alien amid that Gallic band, exiled by revolution from his native Italy, w^ho had been chosen by La Salle as second in command, and who justified the choice by his unswerving courage and dev'oted loyalty. There, too, was 4 43 Till-: GRIFFIN ENTERS LAKE ERIE. Father Hennepin, the earUest historian of these regions, one of the most zealous of all the zealous band of Catholic priests who, at that period, undauntedly bore the cross amid the fiercest pa- gans in America. Attired in priestly robes, having" with him his movable chapel, and attended by his two coadjutors. Father Hen- nepin was read}- at an\- time to perform the rites of his Church, or to share the severest hardships of his comrades. As the little vessel approached the rapids a dozen stalwart sailors were sent ashore with a tow-line, and aided with all their strength the breeze which blew from the north. Meanwhile a crowd of Iroquois warriors had assembled on the shore, together with man\- captives whom they had brought from the distant prairies of the West. These watched eagerly the efforts of the pale-faces, with half-admiring and half-jealous eyes. Those efforts were soon successful. By the aid of sails and tow-line the Griffin surmounted the rapids, all the crew went on board, and the pioneer vessel of these waters swept out on to the bosom of Lake Erie. As it did so the priests led in sing- ing a joyous Te Deum, all the cannon and arquebuses were fired in a grand salute, and even the stoical sons of the forest, watch- ing from the shore, gave evidence of their admiration by repeated cries of " Gannoron I Gannoron I " Wonderful I Wonderful I This was the beginning of the commerce of the upper lakes, and like many another first venture it resulted only in disaster to its projectors, though the harbinger of unbounded success by others. The Griffin went to Green Bay, where La Salle and Hennepin left it. started on its return with a cargo oi furs, and was never heard of more. It is supposed that it sank in a storm and that all on board perished. La Salle was not afterwards identified with the history- of Erie county, but his chivalric achievements and tragic fate have still such power to stir the pulse and enlist the feelings that one can hardly refrain from a brief mention of his subsequent career. After the Griffin had sailed. La Salle and Hennepin went in canoes to the head of Lake Michigan. Thence, after building a trading-post and waiting many wear>- months for the return of his vessel, he went with thirty followers to Lake Peoria on the Illinois, where he built a fort and gave it the expressive name of " Creve Ccvur" — Broken Heart. But notwithstanding this LA SALLE S SUBSLQUENT CAREER. 43 expression of despair his courage was far from exhausted, and, after sending Hennepin to explore the Mississippi, he with three comrades performed the remarkable feat of returning to Fort I-'rontenac on foot, depending on their guns for support. From Fort Frontenac he returned to Creve Coeur, the garri- son of which had in the meantime been driven away by the In- dians. Again the indomitable La Salle gathered his followers, and in the fore part of 1682 descended the Mississippi to the sea, being the first European to explore any considerable portion of that mighty stream. He took possession of the country in the name of King Louis the Fourteenth, and called it Louisiana. Returning to France he astonished and gratified the court with the story of his discoveries, and in 1684 was furnished with a fleet and several hundred men to colonize the new domain. Then every thing went wrong. The fleet, through the blunders of its naval commander, went to Matagorda bay, in Texas. The store-ship was wrecked, the fleet returned, La Salle failed in an attempt to find the mouth of the ]\Iississippi, his colony dwin- dled away through desertion and death to forty men, and at length he started with sixteen of these, on foot, to return to Can- ada for assistance. Even in this little band there were those that hated him, (possibly he was a man of somewhat imperious na- ture,) and ere he had reached the Sabine he was murdered by two of his followers, and left unburied upon the prairie. A lofty, if somewhat haughty spirit, France knows him as the man who added Louisiana and Texas to her empire, the Missis- sippi Valley reveres him as the first explorer of its great river, but by the citizens of this county he will best be remembered as the pioneer navigator of Lake Erie. The adventurous Frenchman doubtless supposed, when he steered the Griffin into that wist inland sea, that he was opening- it solely to French commerce, and was preparing its shores for French occupancy. He had ample reason for the supposition. Communication with the French in Lower Canada was much easier than with the Anglo-Dutch province on the Hudson, and thus far the opportunities of the former had been diligently im- proved. Had La Salle then climbed the bluff which overlooks the transformation of the mighty Erie into the rushing Niagara, 44 THE PROSPECT IX 1 679. and attempted to foretell the destiny of lake and land for the next two centuries, he would without doubt, and with good reason, have mentally given the dominion of both land and lake to the sovereigns of France. He would have seen in his mind's eye the plains that extended eastward dotted with the cottages of French peasants, while here and there among them towered the proud mansions of their baronial masters. He would have imagined the lake white with the sails of hundreds of vessels flying the flag of Gallic kings, and bearing the products of their subjects from still remoter regions, and he would perchance have pictured at his feet a splendid city, reproducing the tall gables of Rouen and the elegant facades of Paris, its streets gay with the vivacious language of France, its cross-capped churches shel- tering only the stately ceremonies of Rome. But a far different destiny was in store for our county, due partly to the chances of war, and partly to the subtle character- istics of race, which make of the Gaul a good explorer but a bad colonizer, while the Anglo-Saxon is ever ready to identify himself with the land to which he may roam. FRENCH ASCENDENCY. 45 CHAPTER VII. FRENCH DOMINION. A Slight Ascendency.— De Nonville's Assault.— Origin of Fort Niagara.— La Hon- tan's E.xpedition.— The Peace of Ryswick.— Queen Anne's War.— The Iro- quois Neutral. — The Tuscaroras.— Joncaire. — Fort Niagara Rebuilt. — French Power Increasing. — Successive Wars. — The Line of Posts. — The Final Struggle.— The Expedition of D' Aubrey. — The Result.— The Surrender of Canada. For the next forty-five years after the adventures of La Salle, the French maintained a general but not very substantial ascen- dency in this region. Their voyageurs traded and their mis- sionaries labored here, and their soldiers sometimes made incur- sions, but they had no permanent fortress this side of Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and they were constantly in danger from their enemies, the Hedonosaunee. In 1687, the Marquis de Nonville, governor of Nevv^ France, arrived at Irondiquoit bay, a few miles east of Rochester, with nearly two thousand Frenchmen and some five hundred Indian allies, and marched at once against the Seneca villages, situated as has been stated in the vicinity of Victor and Avon. The Senecas attacked him on his way, and were defeated, as well they might be, considering that the largest estimate gives them but eight hundred warriors, the rest of the confederates not hav- ing arrived. The Senecas burned their villages and fled to the Cayugas. De Nonville destroyed their stores of corn and retired, after going through the form of taking possession of the country. The supplies thus destroyed were immediately replenished by the other confederates, and De Nonville accomplished little ex- cept still further to enrage the Iroquois. The Senecas, however, determined to seek a home less accessible from the waters of Lake Ontario, and accordingly located their principal villages at Geneva, and on the Genesee above Avon. De Nonville then sailed to the mouth of the Niagara, where 46 ORIGIN' OF FORT NIAGARA. he erected a small fort on the east side of the river. This was the origin of Fort Niagara, one of the most celebrated strong- holds in America, and which, though a while abandoned, was afterwards for a long time considered the key of Western New York. From the new fortress De Nonvillc sent the Baron La Hon- tan, with a small detachment of French, to escort the Indian allies to their western homes. They made the necessary port- age around the Falls, rowed up the Niagara to Buffalo, and thence coasted along the northern shore of the lake in their canoes. All along up the river they were closely watched by the enraged Iroquois, but were too strong and too vigilant to permit an attack. Ere long the governor returned to Montreal, leaving a small "•arrison at Fort Niagara. These suffered so severely from sick- ness that the fort was soon abandoned, and it does not appear to have been again occupied for nearly forty years. In fact, at this period the fortunes of France in North America were brought very low. The Iroquois ravaged a part of the island of Montreal, compelled the abandonment of Forts Frontenac and Niagara, and alone proved almost sufficient to overthrow the French dominion in Canada. The English revolution of 1688, by which James the Second was driven from the throne, was speedily followed by open war with France. In 1689, the Count de Frontenac, the same ener- getic old peer who had encouraged La Salle in his brilliant dis- coveries, and whose name was for a while borne by Lake Ontario, was sent out as governor of New France. This vigorous but cruel leader partially retrieved the desperate condition of the French colony. He, too, invaded the Iroquois, but accom- plished no more than De Nonville. The war continued with varying fortunes until 1697, the Five Nations being all that while the friends of the English, and most of the time engaged in active hostilities against the French. Their authority over the whole west bank of the Niagara, and far up the south side of Lake Erie, was unbroken, save when a detachment of French troops was actually marching along the shore. At the treaty of Ryswick in 1797, while the ownership of THE IROQUOIS NEUTRAL. 47 Other lands was definitely conceded to France and England respectively, that of Western New York was left undecided. The English claimed sovereignty over all the lands of the Five Nations, the French with equal energy asserted the authority of King Louis, while the Hedonosaunee themselves, whenever they heard of the controversy, repudiated alike the pretensions of Yonnondio and Corlear, as they denominated the governors respectively of Canada and New York. So far as Erie county was concerned, they could base their claim on the good old plea that they had killed all its previous occupants, and as neither the English nor French had succeeded in killing the Iroquois, the title of the latter still held good. In legal language they were "in possession," and "adverse posses- sion " at that. Scarcely had the echoes of battle died away after the peace of Ryswick, when, in 1702, the rival nations plunged into the long conflict known as " Queen Anne's War." But by this time the Iroquois had grown wiser, and prudently maintained their neutrality, commanding the respect of both French and English. The former were wary of again provoking the powerful con- federates, and the government of the colony of New York w^as very willing that the Five Nations should remain neutral, as they thus furnished a shield against French and Indian attacks for the whole frontier of the colony. But, meanwhile, through all the western country the French extended their influence. Detroit was founded in 1701. Other posts were established far and wide. Nothwithstanding their alliance with the Hurons and other foes of the Iroquois, and notwithstanding the enmity aroused by the invasions of Cham- plain, De Nonville and Frontenac, such was the subtle skill of the French that they rapidly acquired a strong influence among the western tribes of the confederacy, especially the Senecas. Even the wonderful socio-political system of the Hedonosaunee weakened under the influence of European intrigue, and while the Eastern Iroquois, though preserving their neutrality, were friendly to the English, the Senecas, and perhaps the Cayugas, were almost ready to take up arms for the French. About 17 1 2, an important event occurred in the history of the Hedonosaunee. The Five Nations became the Six Nations. 48 THE TUSCARORAS. The Tuscaroras,a powerful tribe of North CaroHna, had become involved in a war with the whites, originating as usual in a dis- pute about land. The colonists being aided by several other tribes, the Tuscaroras were soon defeated, many of them killed, and many others captured and sold as slaves. The greater part of the remainder fled northward to the Iroquois, who immedi- ately adopted them as one of the tribes of the confederac}'. assigning them a seat near the Oneidas. The readiness of those haughty warriors to extend the valuable shelter of the Long House over a band of fleeing exiles is probably due to the fact that they had been the allies of the Iroquois against other South- ern Indians, which would also account for the eagerness of the latter to join the whites in the overthrow of the Tuscaroras. Not long after this, one Chabert Joncaire, a Frenchman who had been captured in youth by the Senecas, who had been adopted into their tribe and had married a Seneca wife, but who had been released at the treaty of peace, was employed by the French authorities to promote their influence among the Iro- quois. Pleading his claims as an adopted child of the nation, he was allowed by the Seneca chiefs to build a cabin on the site of Lewiston, which soon became a center of French influence. All the efforts of the English were impotent either to dislodge him or to obtain a similar privilege for any of their own people. "Joncaire is a child of the nation," was the sole reply vouch- safed to every complaint. Though Fort Niagara was for the time abandoned, and no regular fort was built at Lewiston, yet Joncaire's trading-post embraced a considerable group of cabins, and at least a part of the time a detachment of French soldiers was stationed there. Thus the active Gauls kept up communi- cation with their posts in the West, and maintained at least a slight ascendency over the territory which is the subject of this history. About 1725, they began rebuilding Fort Niagara, on the site where De Nonville had erected his fortress. They did so with- out opposition, though it seems strange that they could so easily have allayed the jealousy of the Six Nations. It may be pre- sumed, however, that the very fact of the French being such poor colonizers worked to their advantage in establishing a cer- tain kind of influence amona" the Indians. THE INCREASE OF FRENCH POWER. 49 Few of them being desirous of engaging in agriculture, they made httle effort to obtain land, while the English were 'con- stantly arousing the jealousy of the natives by obtaining enor- mous grants from some of the chiefs, often doubtless by very dubious methods. Moreover, the French have always possessed a peculiar facility for assimilating with savage and half-civilized races, and thus gaining an influence over them. Whatever the cause, the power of the French constantly in- creased among the Senecas. Fort Niagara was their stronghold, and Erie county with the rest of Western New York was, for over thirty years, to a very great extent under their control. The influence of Joncaire was maintained and increased by his sons, Chabert and Clauzonne Joncaire, all through the second quarter of the eighteenth century. In the war between England and France, begun in 1744 and closed by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle in 1748, the Six Nations generally maintained their neutrality, though the Mohawks gave some aid to the English. During the eight years of nominal peace which succeeded that treaty, both nations w^ere making constant efforts to extend their dominion beyond their frontier settle- ments, the French with the more success. To Niagara, Detroit and other posts they added Presque Isle, (now Erie,) Venango, and finally Fort Du Ouesne on the site of Pittsburg; designing to establish a line of forts from the lakes to the Ohio, and thence down that river to the Mississippi. Frequent detachments of troops passed through along this line. Their course was up the Niagara to Buffalo, thence either by batteaux up the lake, or on foot along the shore, to Erie, and thence to Venango and Du Ouesne. Gaily dressed French offi- cers sped backward and forward, attended by the feathered war- riors of their allied tribes, and not unfrequently by the Senecas. Dark-gowned Jesuits hastened to and fro, everywhere receiving the respect of the red men, even when their creed was rejected, and using ail their art to magnify the power of both Rome and France. It is possible that the whole Iroquois confederacy would have been induced to become active partisans of the French, had it not been for one man, the skillful English superintendent of In- dian affairs, soon to be known as Sir William Johnson. He, 50 THE FINAL STRUGGLE. having in 1734 been sent to America as the agent of his uncle, a great landholder in the valley of the Mohawk, had gained almost unbounded influence over the Mohawks by integrity in dealing and native shrewdness, combined with a certain coarse- ness of nature which readily affiliated with them. He had made his power felt throughout the whole confederacy, and had been intrusted by the British government with the management of its relations with the Six Nations. In 1756, after two years of open hostilities in America, and several important conflicts, war was again declared between England and France, being their last great struggle for suprem- acy in the new world. The ferment in the wilderness grew more earnest. More frequently sped the gay officers and soldiers of King Louis from Quebec, and Frontenac,and Niagara, now in bat- teaux, now on foot, along the w'estern border of our county; stay- ing perchance to hold a council with the Seneca sachems, then hurrying forward to strengthen the feeble line of posts on which so much depended. In this war the Mohawks were persuaded by Sir William Johnson to take the field in favor of the English. But the Senecas were friendly to the French, and were only re- strained from taking up arms for them by unwillingness to fight their Iroquois brethren, who were allies of the English. At first the French were everywhere victorious. Braddock, almost at the gates of Fort Du Ouesne, was slain, and his army cut in pieces, by a force utterly contemptible in comparison with his own. Montcalm captured Oswego. The French line up the lakes and across to the Ohio was stronger than ever. But in 1^58 William Pitt became prime minister, and then England flung herself in deadly earnest into the contest. That year Fort Du Ouesne was captured by an English and provincial army, its garrison having retreated. Northward, Fort Frontenac was seized by Col. Bradstreet, and other victories prepared the way for the grand success of 1S59. The cordon was broken, but Fort Niagara still held out for France, still the messengers ran backward and forward, to and from Presque Isle and Venango, still the Senecas .strongly declared their friendship for Yon- nondio and Yonnondio's royal master. In 1759, yet heavier blows were struck. Wolfe assailed Que- bec, the strongest of all the French strongholds. Almost at the EXPEDIflON OF D'AUBRFA'. 51 same time Gen. Prideaux, with two tliousand British and provin- cials, accompanied by Si'r WilHam Johnson with one thousand of his faithful Iroquois, sailed up Lake Ontario and laid siege to Fort Niagara. Defended by only six hundred men, its cap- ture was certain unless relief could be obtained. Its commander was not idle. Once again along the Niagara, and up Lake Erie, and away through the forest, sped his lithe, red- skinned messengers to summon the sons and the allies of France. D'Aubrey, at Venango, heard the call and responded with his most zealous endeavors. Gathering all the troops he could from far and near, stripping bare with desperate energy the little French posts of the West, and mustering every red man he could persuade to follow his banners, he set forth to relieve Niagara. Thus it was that about the 20th of July, 1759, while the Eng- lish army w\as still camped around the walls of Quebec, while Wolfe and Montcalm were approaching that common grave to which the path of glory was so soon to lead them, a stirring scene took place on the western borders of our county. The largest European force which had yet been seen in this region at any one time came coasting down the lake from Presque Isle, past the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and along the shores of Brant, and Evans, an^ Hamburg, to the mouth of the limpid Buffalo. Fifty or sixty batteaux bore near a thousand French- men on their mission of relief, while a long line of canoes were freighted with four hundred of the dusky warriors of the West. A motley yet gallant band it was which then hastened along our shores, on the desperate service of sustaining the failing for- tunes of France. Gay young officers from the court of the Grand Monarque sat side by side with sunburned trappers, whose feet had trodden every mountain and prairie from the St. Law^- rence to the Mississippi. Veterans who had won laurels under the marshals of France were comrades of those who knew no other foe than the Iroquois and the Delawares. One boat was filled with soldiers trained to obey wath unques- tioning fidelity every word of their leaders ; another contained only wild savages, who scarce acknowledged any other law than their own fierce will. Here flashed swords and bayonets and brave attire, there appeared the dark rifles and buckskin gar- 52 EXPEDITION OF I)'.\UBREY. ments of the hard)' luinters, while, still further on, the tomahawks and scalpintj-knivcs and naked bodies of Ottawa and Huron braves glistened in the July sun. There w^ere some, too, among the younger men, who might fairly have taken their places in either batteau or canoe ; whose features bore unmistakable evidence of the commingling of diverse races ; who might perchance have justly claimed kindred with barons and chevaliers then resplendent in the salojis of Paris, but who had drawn their infant nourishment from the breasts of dusky mothers, as they rested from hoeing corn on the banks of the Ohio. History has preserved but a slight record of this last struggle of the French for dominion in these regions, but it has rescued from oblivion the names of D'Aubrey, the commander, and De Lignery, his second ; of Monsieur Marini, the leader of the In- dians ; and of the captains De Villie, Repentini, Martini and Basonc. They were by no means despondent. The command contained many of the same men, both white and red, who had slaughtered the unlucky battalions of Braddock only two years before, and they might well hope that some similar turn of fortune would yet giv^e them another victory over the foes of France. The Seneca w\irriors, snuffing the battle from their homes on the Genesee and beyond, were roaming restlessly through Erie and Niagara counties, and along the shores of the river, uncer- tain how to act, more friendly to the French than the English, and yet unwilling to engage in conflict with their brethren of the Six Nations. Hardly pausing to communicate with these doubtful friends, D'Aubrey led his flotilla past the pleasant groves whose place is now occupied by a great commercial emporium, hurried by the tall bluff now crowned by the battlements of Fort Porter, dashed down the rapids, swept on in his eager course untroubled by the piers of any International bridge, startled the deer from their lairs on the banks of Grand Island, and only halted on reaching the shores of Navy Island. Being then beyond the borders of Erie county, I can give the remainder of his expedition but the briefest mention. After staying at Navy Island a day or two to communicate with the END OF FRENCH POWER. 53 fort, he passed over to the mainland and confidently marched forward to battle. But Sir William Johnson, who had succeeded to the command on the death of Prideaux, was not the kind of man likely to meet the fate of Braddock. Apprised of the approach of the French, he retained men enough before the fort to prevent an outbreak of the garrison, and stationed the rest in an ad\'antageous position on the east side of the Niagara, just below the whirlpool. After a battle an hour long the French were utterly routed, several hundred being slain on the field, and a large part of the remainder being captured, including the wounded D'Aubrey. On the receipt of these disastrous news the garrison at once surrendered. The control of the Niagara river, which had been in the hands of the French for over a hundred years, passed into those of the English. For a little while the French held posses- sion of their fort at Schlosser, and even repulsed an English force sent against it. Becoming satisfied, however, that they could not withstand their powerful foe, they determined to destroy their two armed vessels, laden with military stores. They accordingly took them into an arm of the river, separating Buck- horn from Grand Island, at the very north westernmost limit of Erie county, burned them to the water's edge, and sunk the hulls. The remains of these hulls, nearly covered with mud and sand, are still, or were lately, to be seen in the shallow water where they sank, and the name of "Burnt Ship Bay" perpetuates the naval sacrifice of the defeated Gauls. Soon the life-bought victory of Wolfe gave Quebec to the triumphant Britons. Still the French clung to their colonies with desperate but failing grasp, and it was not until September, 1760, that the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the governor general of Canada, surrendered Montreal, and with it Detroit, Venango, and all the other posts within his jurisdiction. This surrender was ratified by the treaty of peace between England and France in February, 1763, which ceded Canada to the former power. The struggle was over. The English Octavius had defeated the Gallic Antony. Forever destroyed was the prospect of a French peasantry inhabiting the plains of Erie county, of baron- ial castles crowning its vine-clad heights, of a gay French city overlooking the mighty lake and the renowned river. 54 THE SEN EC AS HOSTILE. CHAPTER VIII. ENGLISH DOMINION. PoMtiac's League.— The Senecas Hostile.— The Devil's Hole.— Battle near Buffalo. — Treaty at Niagara. — Bradstreel's Expedition.— Israel Putnam. — Lake Com- merce.— Wreck of the Beaver. — Tryon County. Notwithstanding the disappearance of the French soldiers, the western tribes still remembered them with affection, and were still disposed to wage war upon the English. The cele- brated Pontiac united nearly all these tribes in a league against the red-coats, immediately after the advent of the latter, and as no such confederation had been formed against the French, during all their long years of possession, his action must be as- signed to some cause other than mere hatred of all civilized intruders. In May, 1863, the league surprised nine out of twelve English posts, and massacred their garrisons. Detroit, Pittsburg and Niagara alone escaped surprise, and each successfully resisted a siege, in which branch of war, indeed, the Indians were almost certain to fail. There is no positive evidence, but there is little doubt that the Senecas were involved in Pontiac's league, and were active in the attack on Fort Niagara. They had been un- willing to fight their brethren of the Long House, under Sir William Johnson, but had no scruples about killing the English when left alone, as was soon made terribly manifest. In the September following occurred the awful tragedy of the Devil's Hole, when a band of Senecas, of whom Hbnayewus, afterwards celebrated as Farmer's Brother, was one, and Corn- planter probably another, ambushed a train of English army- wagons, with an escort of soldiers, the whole numbering ninety- six men, three and a half miles below the F'alls, and massacred every man with four exceptions. A few weeks later, on the 19th of October, 1763, there occurred the first hostile conflict in P^rie county of which there is any record, in which white men took part. It is said to have been A BATTLE NEAR 15UEEALO. 55 at the " east end of Lake Erie." but was probably on the river just below the lake, as there would be no chance for ambushing boats on the lake shore. Six hundred British soldiers, under one Major Wilkins, were on their way in boats to reinforce their comrades in Detroit. As they approached the lake, a hundred and sixty of them, who were half a mile astern of the others, were suddenly fired on by a band of Senecas, ensconced in a thicket on the river shore, probably on the site of Black Rock. Though even the British estimated the enemy at only sixty, yet so close was their aim that thirteen men were killed and wounded at the first fire. The captain in command of the nearest boats immediately ordered fifty men ashore, and attacked the Indians. The latter fell back a short distance, but rallied, and when the British pursued them they maintained their ground so well that three more men were killed on the spot, and twelve others badly wounded, including two commissioned officers. Meanwhile, under the protection of other soldiers, who formed on the beach, the boats made their way into the lake, and wereioined by the men who had taken part in the Tight. It does ,^^v appear that the Indians suffered near as heavily as the Enghsir , j This was the last serious attack by the Senecas upon the En- glish. Becoming at length convinced that the French had really yielded, and that Pontiac's scheme had failed as to its main pur- pose, they sullenly agreed to abandon Yonnondio, and be at peace with Corlear; In April, 1764, Sir William Johnson concluded peace with eight chiefs of the Senecas, at Johnson's Hall. At that time, among other agreements, they formally conveyed to the king of Eng- land a tract fourteen miles by four, for a carr\'ing place around Niagara Falls, lying on both sides of the river from Schlossei to Lake Ontario. This was the origin of the policy of reserv- ing a strip of land along the river, which was afterwards carried out by the United States and the State of New York. This treaty was to be more fully ratified at a council to be held at Fort Niagara in the summer of 1764. Events in the West, where Pontiac still maintained active but unavailing hos- tility to the British, as well as the massacres previously per- petrated by the Senecas, determined the English commander- 56 bradstreet's expedition'. in-chief to send a force up the lakes able to overcome all opposition. Accordingly, in the summer of 1764, Gen. Bradstreet, an able officer, with twelve hundred British and Americans, came by- water to Fort Niagara, accompanied by the indefatigable Sir William Johnson and a body of his Iroquois warriors. A grand council of friendly Indians was held at the fort, among whom Sir William exercised his customary skill, and satisfactor)- trea- ties were made with them. But the Senecas, though repeatedly promising attendance in answer to the baronet's messages, still held aloof, and were said to be meditating a renewal of the war. At length Gen. Brad- street ordered their immediate attendance, under penalty of the destruction of their settlements. They came, ratified the treaty, and thenceforward adhered to it pretty faithfully, not- withstanding the peremptory manner in which it was obtained. In the meantime a fort had been erected on the site of Fort Erie, the first ever built there. In August Bradstreet's army, increased to nearly three thou- sand men, among whom were three hundred Senecas, (who seem to have Ijeen taken along partly as hostages,) came up the river to the site of Buffalo. Thence they proceeded up the south side of the lake, for the purpose of bringing the western Indians to terms, a task which was successfully accomplished without bloodshed. From the somewhat indefinite accounts which have come down to us, it is evident that the journey was made in open boats, rigged with sails, in which, when the wind was favor- able, excellent speed was made. Bradstreet's force, like D' Aubrey's, was a somewhat motley one. There were stalwart, red-coated regulars, who, when they marched, did so as one man ; hardy New England militia, whose dress and discipUne and military maneuvers were but a poor imitation of the regulars, yet who had faced the legions of France on many a well-fought field ; rude hunters of the border, to whom all dis- cipline was irksome ; faithful Indian allies from the Mohawk valley, trained to admiration of the English by Sir William Johnson ; and finally the three hundred scowling Senecas, their hands red from the massacre of the Devil's Hole, and almost ready to stain them again with luigiish blood. EARLY LAKE COMMERCE. 57 Of the British and Americans, who then in closest friendship and under the same banners passed along the western border of Eric county, there were not a few who in twelve years more were destined to seek each others lives on the blood-stained battle- fields of the Revolution. Among them was one whose name was a tower of strength to the patriots of America, whose voice ral- lied the faltering soldiers of Bunker Hill, and whose fame has come down to us surrounded by a peculiar halo of adventurous valor. This was Israel Putnam, then a loyal soldier of King George, and lieutenant colonel of the Connecticut battalion. For a while, however, there was peace, not only between Eng- land and France, but between the Indians and the colonists. The Iroquois, though the seeds of dissension had been sown among them, were still a powerful confederacy, and their war- parties occasionally made incursions among the western Indians, striding over the plains of Erie county as they went, and return- ing by the same route with their scalps and prisoners. Hither, too, came detachments of red-coated Britons, coming up the Niagara, usually landing at Fort Erie, where a post was all the while maintained, and going thence in open boats to De- troit, Mackinaw, and other western forts. It was not absolutely necessary to come this way to reach Pittsburgh, since the British base of supplies was not, like that of the French, confined to the St. Lawrence, but included Pennsylvania and Virginia. Along the borders of Erie county, too, went all the commerce of the upper lakes, consisting of supplies for the military posts, goods to trade with the Indians, and the furs received in return. The trade was carried on almost entirely in open boats, pro- pelled by oars, with the occasional aid of a temporary sail. In good weather tolerable progress could be made, but woe to any of these frail craft which might be overtaken by a storm. The New York Gazette, in February, 1770, informed its read- ers that several boats had been lost in crossing Lake Erie, and that the distress of the crews was so great that they were obliged to keep two human bodies found on the north shore, so as to kill for food the ravens and eagles which came to feed on the corpses. This remarkable narrative of what may be called sec- ond-hand cannibalism, gives a startling picture of the hardships at that time attending commercial operations on Lake Erie. 5 58 WRECK OF THE BEAVER. Other boats were mentioned at the same time as frozen up or lost, but notliing is said as to sail-vessels. There were, however, at least two or three English trading vessels on Lake Erie before the Revolution, and probably one or two armed vessels belonging to the British government. One of the former, called the Beaver, is known to have been lost in a storm, and is believed by the best authorities to have been wrecked near the mouth of Eight- een-Mile creek, and to ha\e furnished the relics found in that vicinity by early settlers, which by some have been attributed to the ill-fated Griffin. The Senecas made frequent complaints of depredations com- mitted by whites on some of their number, who had villages on the head waters of the Susquehanna and Ohio. " Cressap's war," in which the celebrated Logan was an actor, contributed to render them uneasy, but they did not break out in open hos- tilities. They, like the rest of the Six Nations, had by this time learned to place implicit confidence in Sir William John- son, and made all their complaints through him. He did his best to redress their grievances, and also sought to have them withdraw their villages from those isolated localities to their chief seats in New York, so they would be more com- pletely under his jurisdiction and protection. Ere this could be accomplished, however, all men's attention was drawn to certain mutterings in the political sky, low at first, but growing more and more angry, until at length there burst upon the country that long and desolating storm known as the Revolutionary war. Before speaking of that it may be proper to remark that, mu- nicipally considered, all the western part of the colony of New York was nominally a part of Albany county up to 1772, though really all authority was divided between the Seneca chiefs and the ofiicers of the nearest British garrisons. In that year a new county was formed, embracing all that part of the colony west of the Delaware river, and of a line running north- eastward from the head of that stream through the present county of Schoharie, then northward along the east line of Montgom- ery. Fulton and Hamilton counties, and continuing in a straight line to Canada. It was named Tryon, in honor of William Tryon, then the royal governor of New York. Guy Johnson, APPROACH OF THE RF.VOLUTION, 59 Sir William's nephew and son-in-law, was the earliest " first judge " of the common pleas, with the afterward celebrated John Butler as one of his associates. As the danger of hostilities increased, the Johnsons showed themselves more and more clearly on behalf of the King. Sir William said little and seemed greatly disturbed by the gather- ing troubles. There is little doubt, however, that, had he lived, he would have used his power in behalf of his royal master. But in 1774 he suddenly died. Much of his influence over the Six Nations descended to his son. Sir John Johnson, and his nephew, Col. Guy Johnson. The latter became his successor in the office of superintendent of Indian affairs. 6o THE HOSTILE H^OQUOIS. CHAPTER IX. THE REVOLUTION. Four Iroquois Tribes hostile. — The Oswego Treaty. ^ — Scalps. — Brant. — Guienguah- toh. — Wyoming. — Cherry Valley. — Sullivan's Expedition. — Senecas settle in Erie County. — Gilbert Family. — Peace. In 1775 the storm burst. The Revolution began. The new superintendent persuaded the Mohawks to remove westward with him, and made good his influence over all of the Six Na- tions except the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, though it was near two years from the breaking out of the war before they com- mitted any serious hostilities. John Butler, however, estab- lished himself at Fort Niagara, and organized a regiment of tories known as Butler's Rangers, and he and the Johnsons used all their influence to induce the Indians to attack the Americans. The Senecas held off for awhile, but the prospect of both blood and pay was too much for them to withstand, and in 1777 they, in common with the Cayugas, Onondagas and Mohawks, made a treaty with the British at Oswego, agreeing to serve the king throughout the war. Mary Jemison, the celebrated " White Woman," then living among the Senecas on the Genesee, de- clares that at that treaty the British agents, after giving the In- dians numerous presents, " promised a bounty on every scalp that should be brought in." The question whether a price was actually paid or promised for scalps has been widely debated. There is not sufiicient evi- dence to prove that it was done, and the probabilities are that it was not. Mary Jemison was usually considered truthful, and had good means of knowing what the Indians understood on the subject, but the latter were very ready to understand that they would be paid for taking scalps. An incident on the American side, which will be narrated in the account of the war of 18 1 2, will illustrate this propensity of the savages. As formerly the Senecas, though favorable to the French, hesitated about attacking their brethren of the Long House, so THE SENEGAS AT WYOMING. 6 1 now the Oneidas, who were friendly to the Americans, did not go out to battle against the other Iroquois, but remained neutral throughout the contest. The league of the Hedonosaunee was weakened but not destroyed. From the autumn of 1777 forward, the Senecas, Cayugas, On- ondagas and Mohawks were active in the British interest. Fort Niagara again became, as it had been during the French war, the key of all this region, and to it the Iroquois constantly looked for support and guidance. Their raids kept the whole frontier for hundreds of miles in a state of terror, and were at- tended by the usual horrors of savage warfare. Whether a bounty was paid for scalps or not, the Indians were certainly employed to assail the inhabitants with constant marauding parties, notwithstanding their well-known and invet- erate habit of slaughtering men, women and children whenever opportunity offered, or at least whenever the freak happened to take them. In fact they were good for very little else, their de- sultory method of warfare making them almost entirely useless in assisting the regular operations of an army. The most active and the most celebrated of the Iroquois chiefs in the Revolution was Joseph Brant, or Thayendenegea, a Mohawk who had received a moderate English education under the patronage of Sir William Johnson. He was most frequently intrusted with the command of detached parties by the British officers, but it does not appear that he had authority over all the tribes, and it is almost certain that the haughty Senecas, the most powerful tribe of the confederacy, to whom by ancient law belonged both the principal war-chiefs of the league, would not and did not submit to the control of a Mohawk. Three of the chiefs of the Senecas in that conflict are well l^nown — " Farmer's Brother," " Cornplanter," and " Governor Blacksnake "' ; but who was their chief-in-chief, if I may be allowed to coin the expression, is not certain. I do not myself think there was any, but am of the opinion that the leader of each expedition received his orders directly from the English officers. W. L. Stone, author of the life of Brant, says that at the battle of Wyoming, in 1778, the leader of the Senecas, who formed the main part of the Indian force on that occasion, was 62 SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION. Guiengwahtoh, supposed to be same as Guiyahgwahdoh, "the smoke-bearer." That was the official title of the Seneca after- wards known as "Young King," he being a kind of hereditary ambassador, the bearer of the smoking brand from the great council-fire of the confederacy to light that of the Senecas. He was too young to have been at Wyoming, but his predeces- sor in office, (probably his maternal uncle,) might have been there. Brant was certainly not present. I have called that affiiir the "battle" instead of the "massacre" of Wyoming, as it is usually termed. The facts seem to be that no quarter was given during the conflict, and that after the Americans were routed the tories and Senecas pursued, and killed all they could, but that those who reached the fort and afterwards surrendered were not harmed, nor were any of the non-combatants. The whole valley, however, was devastated, and the houses burned. At Cherry Valley, the same year, the Senecas were present in force, together with a body of Mohawks, under Brant, and of tories, under Capt. Walter Butler, son of Col. John Butler, and there then was an undoubted massacre. Nearly thirty \vomen and children were killed, besides many men surprised helpless in their homes. These events, and other similar ones on a smaller scale, in- duced congress and General Washington to set on foot an expe- dition in the spring of 1779, which, though carried on outside the bounds of Erie county, had a very strong influence on that county's subsequent history. I refer to the celebrated expedi- tion of General Sullivan against the Six Nations. Having marched up the Susquehanna to Tioga Point, where he was joined by a brigade under General James Clinton, (father of De Witt Clinton,) Sullivan, with a total force of some four thousand men, moved up the Chemung to the site of Elmira. There Col. Butler, with a small body of Indians and tories, variously estimated at from six hundred to fifteen hundred men, had thrown up intrenchments, and a battle was fought. Butler was speedily defeated, retired with considerable loss, and made no further opposition. Sullivan advanced and destroyed all the Seneca villages on the Genesee and about Geneva, burning wigwams and cabins, SENECAS IN ERIE COUNTY. 63 cutting down orchards, cutting- up growing corn, and utterly de- vastating the country. The Senecas fled in great dismay to Fort Niagara. The Onondaga villages had in the meantime been destroyed by another force, but it is plain that the Senecas were the ones who were chiefly feared, and against whom the vengeance of the Americans was chiefly directed. After thor- oughly laying waste their country, the Americans returned to the East. Sullivan's expedition substantially destroyed the league which bound the Six Nations together. Its form remained, but it had lost its binding power. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras were encouraged to increase their separation from the other confeder- ates. Those tribes whose possessions had been destroyed were thrown into more complete subservience to the British power, thereby weakening their inter-tribal relations, and the spirits of the Senecas, the most powerful and warlike of them all, were much broken by this disaster. It was a more serious matter than had been the destruction of their villages in earlier times. They had adopted a more permanent mode of existence. They had learned to depend more on agriculture and less on the chase. They had not only corn-fields, but gardens, orchards, and sometimes comfortable houses. In fact they had adopted many of the customs of civil- ized life, though without relinquishing their primitive pleasures, such as tomakawking prisoners and scalping the dead. They fled en masse to Fort Niagara, and during the winter of 1779-80, which was one of extraordinary severity, were scantily sustained by rations which the British authorities with difficulty procured. As spring approached the English made earnest efforts to reduce the expense, by persuading the Indians to make new settlements and plant crops. The red men were naturally anxious to keep as far as practicable from the dreaded foes who had inflicted such heavy punishment the year before, and were unwilling to risk their families again at their ancient seats. At this time a considerable body of the Senecas, with proba- bly some Cayugas and Onondagas, came up from Niagara and established themselves near Buffalo creek, about four miles above its mouth. This was, so far as known, the first permanent . settlement of the Senecas in Erie county. They had probably 64 LIEUTENANT JOHNSTON. had huts here to use while hunting and fishing, but no regular villages. In fact this settlement of the Senecas, in the spring of 1780, was probably the first permanent occupation of the county, since the destruction of the Neuter Nation a hundred and thirty-five years before. The same spring another band located themselves at the mouth of the Cattaraugus. Those who settled on Buffalo creek were under the leadership of Siangarochti, or Sayengaraghta, an aged but influential chief, sometimes called Old King, and said to be the head sachem of the Senecas. They brought with them two or more more mem- bers of the Gilbert family, quakers who had been captured on the borders of Pennsylvania, a month or two previous. After the war the family published a narrative of their captivity, which gives much valuable information regarding this period of our history. Immediately on their arrival, the squaws began to clear the ground and prepare it for corn, while the men built some log huts and then went out hunting. That summer the family of Siangarochti alone raised seventy-five bushels of corn. In the beginning of the winter of 1780-81, two British offi- cers, Capt. Powell and Lieutenant Johnson, or Johnston, came to the settlement on Buffalo creek, and remained until toward spring. They were probably sent by the British authorities at Fort Niagara, to aid in putting the new settlement on a solid foundation. Possibly they were also doing some fur-trading on their own account. They made strenuous efforts to obtain the release of Rebecca and Benjamin, two of the younger mem- bers of the Gilbert family, but the Indians were unwilling to give them up. Captain Powell had married Jane Moore, a girl who, with her mother and others of the family, had been captured at Cherry Valley. The " Lieutenant Johnson " who accompanied him to Buff"alo creek was most likely his half-brother, who afterwards located at Buffalo, and was known to the early settlers as Cap- tain William John.ston. There seems to have been no ground whatever for the supposition which has been entertained by some that he was the half-breed son of Sir William Johnson. All the circumstances show that he was not. THE GILBERT FAMILY. 65 Lieutenant Johnston, who was probably an officer in Butler's Rangers, was said by Mrs. Jemison to have robbed Jane Moore of a ring at Cherry Valley, which he afterwards used to marry the lady he had despoiled. As Jane Moore married Captain Powell instead of Lieutenant Johnston, this romantic story has been entirely discredited ; but since it has been ascertained that Johnston was a half-brother of Powell, it is easy to see how- Mrs. Jemison might have confounded the tw^o, and that John- ston might really have furnished the "confiscated" ring for his brother's wedding instead of his own. Captain (afterwards Col- onel) Powell is frequently and honorably mentioned in several accounts, as doing everything in his power to ameliorate the con- dition of the captives among the Indians. It must have been about this time that Johnston took unto himself a Seneca wife; for his son, John Johnston, was a young man when Buffalo was laid out in 1803. Elizabeth Peart, wife of Thomas Peart, son of the elder Mrs. Gilbert by a former husband, was another of the Gilbert family captives w^ho was brought to Buffalo creek. She had been adopted by a Seneca family, but that did not induce much kindness on their part, for they allowed her child, less than a year old, to be taken from her, and adopted by another family, living near Fort Niagara. She was permitted to keep it awhile after its " adoption," but when they went to the fort for provis- ions, they took her and her infant along, and compelled her to give it up. Near the close of the winter of 1780-81, they were again compelled to go to Fort Niagara for provisions, and there she found her child, which had been bought by a white family from the Indians who had adopted it. By many artifices, and by the connivance of Captain Powell, she finally escaped to Montreal with her husband and children. Others of the Gilbert family still remained in captivity. Thomas Peart, brother of Benjamin, obtained his liberty in the spring of 1 78 1, and was allowed to go to Buffalo creek with Capt. Powell, who was sent to distribute provisions, hoes, and other implements, among the Indians. At the distribution, the chiefs of every band came for shares, each having as many sticks as there were persons in his band, in order to insure a fair division. 66 PEACE. That spring, still another body of Indians came to Buffalo creek, having with them Abner and Elizabeth Gilbert, the two youngest children of the family. But this band settled some distance from the main body, and the children were not allowed to visit each other. In July of that year, the family in which Abner Gilbert was went to " Butlersburg," a little village opposite Fort Niagara, named after Colonel Butler. The colonel negotiated with the woman who was the head of the family for Abner, and she agreed to give him up on receiving some presents. But he was only to be delivered after twenty days' time. She took him back to Buffalo creek, but finally returned with him before the stip- ulated day, and they were sent to Montreal by the first ship. Meanwhile, the war had gone forward with varying fortunes. Guy Johnson and Col. Butler kept the Indians at work as busily as possible, marauding upon the frontier, but they had been so thoroughly broken up that they were unable to produce such devastation as at Wyoming and Cherry Valley. In October, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered, and thenceforth there were no more active hostilities. Rebecca Gilbert and Benjamin Gilbert, Jr., were released the next year. This appears to have been managed by Col. Butler, who, to give him his due, always seemed willing to befriend the captives, though constantly sending out his savages to make new ones. Not until the arrangements were all made did the Indians inform Rebecca of her approaching freedom. With joj-ful heart she prepared for the journey, making bread and doing other needful work for her captors. Then, by canoe and on foot, she and her brother were taken to Niagara, and, after a conference, the last two of the ill-fated Gilbert family were released from captivity in June, 1782. In the fall of 178^,, peace was formally declared beMveen Great Britain and the revolted colonies, henceforth to be ac- knowledged by all men as the United States of America. By the treaty the boundary line was established along the center of Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie. Al- though the forts held by the British on the American side of the line were not given up for many years afterwards, and though they thus retained a strong influence ov'er the Indians located LENGTH OF ENGLISH DOMINION. 6"] on this side, yet the legal title was admitted to be in the United States. Thus the unquestioned English authority over the ter- ritory of Erie county lasted only from the treaty with France, in 1763, to that with the United States in 1783, a little over twenty years. 68 TREATY OF FORT STANWIX. CHAPTER X. FROM 1783 TO 1788. Treatment of the Six Nations. — The Treaty of Fort Stanwix. — The Western Bound- ary.— Origin of the Name of Buffalo. — Mi.ss Powell's Visit. — "Captain David." — Claims of New York and Massachusetts. — How Settled. — Sale to Phelps and Gorham. — The Land Rings. — A Council Called. No provision whatever was made in the treaty of peace for the Indian alHcs of Great Britain. The English authorities, however, offered them land in Canada, but all except the Mo- hawks preferred to remain in New York. The United States treated them with unexampled modera- tion. Although the Iroquois had twice violated their pledges, and without provocation had plunged into the war against the colonies, they were readily admited to the benefits of peace, and were even recognized as the owners of all the land over which they had ranged before the Revolution. The property line, as it was called, previously drawn between the whites and Indians, ran along the eastern border of Broome and Chenango counties, and thence northwestward to a point seven miles west of Rome. In October, 1784, a treaty was made at Fort Stanwix (Rome) between three commissioners of the United States and the .sachems of the Six Nations. The Marquis de la Fayette was present and made a speech, though not one of the commissioners. It is almost certain, however, that Red Jacket, then a young man, who afterwards claimed to have been there, did not really take any part in the council. Brant was not present, though he had been active in a council with Governor Clinton, only a short time before. Cornplanter spoke on behalf of the Senecas, but Sayengeraghta or " Old King," was recognized as the principal Seneca sachem. The eastern boundary of the Indian lands does not seem to have been in dispute, but the United States wanted to extin- guish whatever claim the Six Nations might have to the west- ern territory, and also to keep open the right of way around the AN OLD BOUNDARY. 69 Falls, which Sir William Johnson had obtained for the British. It was accordingly agreed that the western line of their lands should begin on Lake Ontario, four miles east of the Niagara, running thence southerly, in a direction always four miles east of the carrying path, to the mouth of Tehoseroron (or Buffalo) creek, on Lake Erie ; thence south to the north boundary of the State of Pennsylvania; "thence west to the end of said north boundary ; thence south along the west boundary of the State to the river Ohio." This agreement (if it is correctly given above, and I think it is) would have left the whole of Chautauqua county and a large part of Erie and Cattaraugus west of the line. It could hardly be called a treaty, as the Indians only agreed to it because they thought they were obliged to, and afterwards made so much com- plaint that its provisions were somewhat modified. The treaty of Fort Stanwix was the first public document containing the name of Buffalo creek, as applied to the stream which empties at the foot of Lake Erie. The narrative of the Gilbert family published just after the war was the first appear- ance of the name in writing or printing. This is a proper time, therefore, to consider a question which has been often debated, viz., whether the original Indian name was " Buffalo" creek. This almost of necessity involves the further question whether the buffalo ever ranged on its banks; for it is not to be presumed that the Indians would, in the first place, have adopted that name unless such had been the case. It is conceded that the Seneca name for the locality at the mouth of the creek was "To-se-o-way," otherwise rendered De- dyo-syo-oh, meaning "the place of basswoods." Te-ho-se-ro-ron is supposed to be the same word in the Mohawk dialect. It is therefore believed by some that the interpreter made a mistake in calling the stream "Buffalo creek " in the treaty of Fort Stan- wix, and that the Senecas afterwards adopted the name, calling the creek "Tick-e-ack-gou" or Buffalo. In the second chapter the writer briefly indicated his reasons for believing that the buffalo once visited, at least occasionally, the shores of Buffalo creek. The first fact to be considered is the unquestioned existence in Erie county of open plains of considerable extent, only seventy-five years ago. As they were 70 THE BUFFALO QUESTION. then growing up with small timber, the presumption is that they were much larger previously, and old accounts coincide with the presumption. Numerous early travelers and later hunters mention the ex- istence of the buffalo in this vicinity or not far away. The strongest instance, is the account of Chaumonot and Brebceuf, referred to in the sixth chapter, which declares that the Neuter Nation, who occupied this very county of Erie, were in the habit of hunting the buffalo, together with other animals. Mr. Ketchum, in his history of "Buffalo and the Senecas," says that all the oldest Senecas in 1820 declared that buffalo bones had been found within their recollection at the salt licks, near Sulphur Springs. The same author produces evidence that white men had killed buffaloes within the last hundred and twenty years, not only in Ohio but in Western Pennsylvania. Albert Gallatin, who was a surveyor in Western Virginia in 1784, declared, in a paper published by the American Ethnolo- gical Society, that they were at that time abundant in the Ke- nawha valley, and that he had for eight months lived principally on their flesh. This is positive proof, and the Kenawha v^alley is only three hundred miles from here, and only one hundred miles further west, and in as well wooded a country as this. Mr. Gallatin adds authentic evidence of their having previously penetrated west of the Alleganies. The narrative of the Gilbert family is very strong evidence that from the first the Senecas applied the name of Buffalo to the stream in question. Although the book was not published until after the war, yet the knowledge then given to the public was acquired in 1780, '81 and '82. At least six of the Gilberts and Pearts were among the Senecas on Buffalo creek. Some of them were captives for over two years, and must have ac- quired considerable knowledge of the language. It is utterly out of the question that they could all have been mistaken as to the name of the stream on which they lived, which must have been constantly referred to by all the Senecas in talking about their people domiciled there, as well as by the scores of British officers and soldiers with whom the Gilberts came in contact. If, then, the Neuter Nation hunted buffaloes in Canada in 1640, if they were killed by the whites in Ohio and Pennsylvania MISS roWKLl/S VISIT. 7 1 within the last century and a quarter, if Albert Gallatin found them abundant on the Kenawha in 1784, if the old Senecas of 1820 declared they had found his bones at the salt lick, and if the Indians called the stream on which they settled in 1780 "Buffalo" creek, there can be no reasonable doubt that they knew what they were about, and did so because that name came down from former times, when the monarch of the western prai- rie strayed over the plains of the county of Erie. The same year of the Fort Stanwix treaty (1784) the name of Tryon county, of which Erie was nominally a part, was changed to Montgomery, in honor of the slain hero of Quebec. In May, 1785, Miss Powell, probably a sister of the Captain Powell before mentioned, visited an Indian council on Buffalo creek, and has left an interesting description, which I find in Mr. Ketchum's valuable repertory. After admiring the P^alls, of which she writes in glowdng terms, her party went in boats to Fort Erie. Thence they crossed to this side. She was accom- panied "by Mrs. Powell (Jane Moore), and by several British officers. One of her companions, (who had also been an officer, though I am not certain that he was then one,) was a young Irish no- bleman, whose name was soon to be raised to a mournful prom- inence, and whose fruitless valor and tragic fate are still the theme of ballad and story among the people of his native land. This was Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who manifested a great fond- ness for visiting among the Indians, and who found an especial charm in the society of Brant. Before the council assembled. Miss Powell noticed several chiefs, gravely seated on the ground, preparing for it by painting their faces before small looking-glasses, which they held in their left hands. She declares there were two hundred chiefs present as delegates of the Six Nations, which, as there were not over two thousand warriors in all, was a very liberal allowance of officers. The chief of each tribe formed a circle in the shade of a tree, while their appointed speaker stood with his back against it. Then the old women came, one by one, with great solemnity, and seated themselves behind the men. Miss Powell noted, with evident approval, that "on the banks of Lake P>ie a woman -J2 "CAPTAIN DAVID." becomes respectable as she grows old;" and added that, though the ladies kept silent, nothing was decided without their appro- bation. Their fair visitor was wonderful!}' taken with the manly ap- pearance of the Iroquois warriors, and declared that "our beaux look quite insignificant beside them." She was especially pleased with one who was called " Captain David," of whom she gave a very full account. Indians wearing the old clothes of white men are common enough now, but a full-fledged Iroquois beau of the last century was an altogether different personage, and I will therefore transcribe the substance of the lady's glowing de- scription. She declared that the Prince of Wales did not bow with more grace than " Captain David." He spoke English with propriety. His person was tall and fine as it was possible to imagine ; his features handsome and regular, with a countenance of much softness ; his complexion not disagreeably dark, and, said Miss P., " I really believe he washes his face ; " the proof being that she saw no signs of paint forward of his ears. His hair was shaved off, except a little on top of his head, which, with his ears, was painted a glowing red. Around his head was a fillet of silver, from which two strips of black velvet, covered with silver beads and brooches, hung over the left tem- ple. A " fox-tail feather " in his scalp lock, and a black one be- hind each ear, waved and nodded as he walked, while a pafr of immense silver ear-rings hung down to his shoulders. He wore a calico shirt, the neck and shoulders thickh' covered with silver brooches, the sleeves confined above the elbows with broad silver bracelets, engraved with the arms of England, while four smaller ones adorned his wrists. Around his waist was a dark scarf, lined with scarlet, which hung to his feet, while his costume was completed by neatly fitting blue cloth leggins, fast- ened w ith an ornamental garter below tlic knee. Such was the most conspicuous gentleman of Erie county ninety-one years ago, and Miss Powell enthusiastically declared that " Captain David made the finest appearance I ever saw in my life." Now and then some fair E.nglish maiden has been so smitten with the appearance of a nati\'e American warrior as to become CONFLICTING CLAIMS. y ^ his bride, and make her residence within his wig'wam. Miss Powell, however, was not quite so much charmed by Captain David as that, since she returned to Fort Erie that evening on her way to Detroit, leaving Lord Edward Fitzgerald and others to be entertained that night b}' the dancing of their dusky friends. As was stated in Chapter VIII, the colonies of Massachu- setts and New York had charters under which they could both claim not only all Central and Western New York, but a strip of land running through to the Pacific ocean, or at least to the Mississippi. About the close of the Revolution, however, both Massachusetts and New York ceded to the United States all claim to the territory west of a line drawn south from the west- ern extremity of Lake Ontario, being the present western bound- ary of Chautauqua county. After divers negotiations regarding the rest of the disputed territory, commissioners from the two States interested met at Hartford, in December, 1786, to endeavor to harmonize their claims. It was then and there agreed that Massachusetts should yield all claim to the land east of the present east line of On- tario and Steuben counties. Also that west of that line New York should have the political jurisdiction and sovereignty, while Massachusetts should have the title, or fee-simple, of the land, subject to the Indian right of occupancy. That is to say, the Indians could hold the land as long as they pleased, but were only allowed to sell to the State of Mas- sachusetts or her assigns. This title, thus encumbered, was called the preemption right, literally the right of first purchas- ing. New York, however, reserved a tract a mile wide, along the eastern shore of the Niagara, from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. As, by the treat)' of Fort Stanwix, the lands of the Six Nations only came within four miles of the river, and did not extend west of a line running due south from the mouth of Buffalo creek, it is probable that the United States had since released the tract in New York west of that line to the Indians, in response to their numerous complaints. While these events were transpiring a combination (a "ring" it would now be called) was formed by prominent men in New- York and Canada, to get control of the Indian lands in this 6 74 LAND KINGS. State. Two companies were organized, "The New York and Genesee Land Company," of which one John Livingston was tlie manager, and the " Niagara Genesee Company," composed principally of Canadians, with Col. John Butler at the head. With him were associated Samuel Street, of Chippewa, Captain Powell, the friend of the captives, William Johnston, afterwards of Buffalo, and Benjamin Barton, of New Jersey. As the State constitution forbade the sale of Indian lands to individuals, these companies, working together, sought to evade it by a lease. So great was the influence of Butler and his friends that in 1787 the Six Nations, or some chiefs claiming to act for them, gave the New York and Genesee Company a lease of all their lands (except some small reservations) for nine hun- dred and ninety-nine years. The consideration was to be twenty thousand dollars, and an annual rental of two thousand. The next winter the lessees applied to the legislature for a re- cognition of their lease, but the intent to evade the law was too plain ; the petition was promptly rejected and the lease declared void. Many of the chiefs, whether truly or not, declared this lease to have been made without authority. We may note, as con- firming what has been said of the influence of the female sex among these savages, that in a letter sent by several chiefs from Buffalo creek, in the spring of 1788, they say the lease is void, "since not one sachem nor principal woman had given their consent." The lease having been declared void, the lessees next pro- posed to procure a conveyance by the Indians of all their lands to the State, provided the State would reimburse Livingston and his associates for all their expenses, and convey to than half the land. This specimen of "cheek" can hardly be exceeded even in these progressive days, considering that, by this propo- sition, Livingston, Butler and company would have got some four or five million acres of the finest land in America as a free gift. However, the proposition was promptly rejected. In 1788 Massachusetts sold all her land in New York, about six million acres, to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, act- ing on behalf of themselves and others, for one million dollars, in three equal annual installments, the purchasers being at lib- A COUNCIL CALLED. 75 erty to pay in certain stocks of that State, then worth about twenty cents on the dollar. The purchase was subject of course to the Indian right of oc- cupancy. Phelps, the active man of the firm, made an arrange- ment with Livingston, who agreed, doubtless for a consideration, to help him negotiate a treaty with the Indians. But mean- while there was a disagreement between Livingston's and But- ler's companies, and when Phelps arrived at Geneva, where a council was to have been held, he learned that Butler and Brant had assembled the Indians at Buffalo creek, and had persuaded them not to meet with either Livingston or Phelps. Finding that Butler and his friends had the most influence over the savages, Phelps went to Niagara, came to a satisfactory ar- rangement with them, and then procured the calling of a coun- cil at Buffalo creek. It assembled on the fifth of July. The proceedings were very quiet and harmonious, for Butler and Brant made every- thing move smoothly. There was little dispute, little excite- ment, and none of those impassioned bursts of eloquence for which Indian orators have become famous ; yet the noted men present at that council make it one of the most remarka- ble assemblages ever convened in the county of Erie. A sepa- rate chapter will therefore be devoted to it and them. -j6 THAVENDENEGEA. CHAPTER XI. THE COUNCIL. Brant. — Butler. — Kirkland. — Phelps. — Farmer's Brother. — Red Jacket. — Cornplant- er. — The Mill-seat. — The Bargain. — Butler's Pay. By far the most celebrated personage present in the council on Buffalo creek in July, 1788, was the Mohawk chieftain, called in his native tongue Thayendenegea, but denominated Joseph when he was taken under the patronage of Sir William Johnson, and known to fame throughout England and America b}' the name of Brant. A tall, spare, sinewy man of forty-five, with an intelligent but sinister countenance, gorgeously appar- eled in a dress which was a cross between that of a British offi- cer and of an Indian dandy, his gaudy blanket thrown back from his shoulders to display his gold epaulets, and his mili- tary coat eked out by the blue breech-cioth and leggins of the savage, the vain but keen-witted Mohawk doubtless enjoyed himself as the observed of all observers, but at the same time kept a sharp lookout for the main chance ; having acquired a decidedly civilized relish for land and money. Brant has acquired a terrible reputation as a bold and blood- thirsty leader of savages, but it would appear as if both his vices and his virtues were of the civilized — or semi-civilized — stamp. He had a mind which took easily to the instruction of the white man — though his education was only mediocre — and before the Revolution he had become a kind of private secretary to Col. Guy Johnson ; a position that to a thorough-going In- dian would have been irksome in the extreme. Even the Mo- hawks did not then look up to him as a great warrior, and on the outbreak of hostilities chose as their chief his nephew, Peter Johnson, son of Sir William by Brant's sister Molly. But the British found Brant the most intelligent of the In- dians, and by using him they could most easily insure coopera- tion in their own plans. They therefore intrusted him with nu- COLONEL BUTLER. -J-J merous expeditions, ahd the Mohawks readily yielded to his authority. So, too, perhaps, did some of the Cayugas and On- ondagas, but the evidence is strong that the Senecas never obeyed him. After the war, however, he was looked up to by all the Indians, on account of his influence with the British officials. In the matter of cruelty, too, though perhaps not a very hu- mane man according to our standard, he was much less savage than most of his countrymen, and there is abundant evidence of his having many times saved unfortunate prisoners from torture or death. Albeit there is also evidence of his having taken some lives needlessly, but never of his inflicting torture. As he grew older he aff"ected more and more the style of an English country gentleman, at his hospitable residences at Brant- ford and Burlington Bay, and finally died, in 1807, in the odor of sanctity, a member of the Episcopal church and a translator of the Scriptures into the Mohawk dialect ! ' Another active participant in the council, with a reputation scarcely less extensive or less sinister, was Col. John Butler, the leader of " Butler's Rangers," the commander at the far-famed " Massacre of Wyoming," the terror of ten thousand families, the loyal gentleman of British records, the " infamous Butler " of border history. In this case, as in many others, probably the devil was not so black as he has been painted, but he was a good deal of a devil after all. The " Massacre of Wyoming," as I have said, is per- haps hardly entitled to that name. But Colonel Butler Avas the most active agent in sending and leading the savages against the frontier, knowing that it was impossible at times to restrain them from the most horrible outrages. Again and again they mur- dered individuals and families in cold blood ; again and again they dragged women and children from their homes hundreds of miles through the snows of winter, often slaughtering those too feeble to travel ; and again and again John Butler, the great military authority of all this region, sent or led them to a repe- tition of similar scenes — and they were good for little else — easily satisfying his conscience by sometimes procuring the re- lease of a prisoner. A native of Connecticut, a man of education and intelligence. yS SAMUEL KIRKLAXD. once a judge of the count}' of Trj-on, then a bold, acti\-e and relentless partisan commander, cheering on his rangers and Sen- ecas at Wyoming, sword in hand, without his uniform and with a red 'kerchief tied around his head, Butler was in 1788 an agreeable appearing gentleman of fifty-five or sixty, stout and red-faced, in cocked hat and laced coat, with unbounded influ- ence over the Indians, and determined to use it so as to make a good thing for himself out of the lands of Western New York. There, too, was the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the agent of Mas- sachusetts, a man of noble character and varied experience. Twenty-three years before, then a young man just graduated from college, he had devoted himself to the missionary cause among the Indians, going at first among these same Senecas, and making many friends, though meeting with some very dis- heartening adventures. Then he had taken up his home with the Oneidas and labored among them with some intermissions nearly forty years, ever receiving their most earnest affection and respect. It had been largely owing to his influence that that tribe had remained neutral during the revolution. Congress had employed him in various patriotic services throughout that struggle, and during Sullivan's campaign he had served as bri- gade chaplain. Fourteen years after the events we are now relating, he gained a new title to public gratitude by becoming the founder of Hamilton College, (though it then received only the modest title of Hamilton Oneida Academy,) giving it a liberal endowment out of lands granted him by the State for his services. On this occasion he acted not only as agent for Massachusetts but as one of the interpreters, there being three others, one of whom was William Johnston. This is the first positive appear- ance of one who was afterwards to exercise a powerful influence over the future of Buffalo — who was, in fact, to decide whether there should be any city of l^uffalo or not. There is, however, little doubt that he was identical with the "Lieutenant Johnson," heretofore mentioned, who visited the Senecas in 1780, and also with the Lieutenant Johnson whom Mrs. Jemison mentions as taking part in the Cherry Valley raid. Shrewd, persistent, enterprising, a typical business man of the day was Oliver Phelps, a Connecticut Yankee by birth, a FARMER S BROTHER. 79 son of the Bay State by adoption, a New Yorker by subsequent residence. He had been an active and influential participant in the Revokition, and was now, as the agent of an association of Massachusetts speculators, negotiating for the purchase of a principality. Removing soon after to Canandaigua, and super- intending there the sale of the vast domain which he and his associates had purchased, he was to the day of his death looked up to with profound respect by the residents of "Phelps and Gorham's Purchase." But his keenness in a bargain is well illus- trated by a transaction at this very council, narrated a little further on. Among the Indian owners of the land the most eminent was Honayewus, who had for several years been recognized as prin- cipal war-chief of the Senecas, and who had lately received the name of "Farmer's Brother" from the lips of Washington. The latter, anxious to make agriculture respectable among the Indi- ans, declared himself a farmer in conversation with Honayewus, and also saluted him as his brother. The chieftain, proud of the attention paid him by the g;reat hero of the pale-faces, readily accepted the title of "Farmer's Brother," and ere long was uni- versally known by that name among the whites. A strong, stalwart warrior, of gigantic frame and magnificent proportions, straight as an arrow, though nearly sixty years old, plainly attired in full Indian costume, with eagle eye, frank, open countenance, commanding port and dignified demeanor. Honayewus was, more than Brant, or Red Jacket, or Cornplant- er, the beau ideal of an Iroquois chief. Though an eloquent orator, second only to Red Jacket in all the Six Nations, he was preeminently a warrior, and as such had been followed by the Senecas through many a carnival of blood. It is to be pre- sumed, too, that he had had his share in scenes of cruelty, for, though a peaceable man in peace, he was a savage like his brethren, and, like a savage, he waged war to the knife. Thirty years before he had been one of the leaders in the ter- rible tragedy of the Devil's Hole, when nearly a hundred Eng- lish soldiers were ambushed and slain, 'and flung down into the darksome gorge. He had borne his part in many a border foray throughout the Revolution, had led the fierce charge of the Sen- ecas when they turned the scale of battle at Wyoming, and had So RED JACKET. perhaps been an actor in the more dreadful scenes of Cherry Valley. Now he had become the friend of peace, the foe of in- temperance, the conservator of order ; and wherever a Seneca village was found, on the banks of the Buffalo or the Cattarau- gus, of the Genesee or the Allegany, the presence of Farmer's Brother was greeted, the name of Honayewus was heard, ^\•ith the respect due to valor, wisdom and integrity. There, too, was the more celebrated but less respected leader, who had lately been made a chief by the honorable name of Sagoyewatha, "The Keeper Awake," (literally, "he keeps them awake" — a tribute to his oratorical po\\ers which man}' a con- gressman might envy,) but who was generally known among the whites by the ridiculous appellation which he transmitted to his descendants, the far-famed Red Jacket. He, too, had been an actor in the border wars, but had gained no laurels in them. Brant and Cornplanter both hated him, de- claring him to be both a coward and a traitor. They were accustomed to tell of the time when he made a glowing speech, urging the Senecas to battle, but, while the conflict was going on, was discovered cutting up the cow of another Indian, which he had killed. He was at that time frequently called "The Cow-Killer," and that name was inserted in two or three public documents, being afterwards crossed out and "Red Jacket" substituted. The treason with which he was charged seems to have con- sisted in making various efforts for peace, during Sullivan's campaign, without the sanction of the war-chiefs. At one time he is said to have clandestinely sent a runner to the American camp, inviting a flag of truce. Brant heard of the proceeding, and had the unlucky messenger intercepted and killed. Proba- bly some of the stories regarding his timidity and treachery are false, but there are a good many of them, and they all point the same way. Notwithstanding all this, such was the charm of his eloquence, of which the Iroquois were always great admirers, and such the clearness of his intellect, that he was rapidly gaining in influence, and had been made a chief ; that is, as I understand it, a civil chief, or counselor of the sachems. At the beginning of the Revolution he was a youth of about CORN PLANTER. 8 I twenty. The British' officers had been attracted by his intelH- gence, and had frequently employed him as a messenger, for which he was as well qualified by his fleetness of foot as by his shrewdness of mind. They had compensated him by a succes- sion of red jackets, in which he took great pride, and from which he derived his name. Slender of form and subtle of face, clad in the most gorgeous of Indian raiment, Sagoyewatha doubtless attracted the atten- tion of the whites, but he had little opportunity to display his powers, for Brant and the omnipotent Butler had got everything arranged in the most satisfactory manner. There, too, was Captain John O'Bail, or Abeel, more widely known as Cornplanter. Half white by blood, but thoroughly Indian by nature, he had been one of the bravest and most suc- cessful chiefs of the Senecas during the war, but was now under a cloud among his people, because of his assent to the treaty of Fort Stanwix. He is said by Mrs. Jemison to have captured his own father, the old white trader, John Abeel, in one of his raids, but to have released him after taking him a few miles. Farmer's Brother and Red Jacket both lived on Buffalo creek, but Cornplanter's residence was on the Allegany, in Pennsylva- nia, w^here a band of Senecas looked up to him as their leader. Sayengeraghta, "Old King," .or "Old Smoke," as he was vari- ously termed, was, if living, still the principal civil sachem of the Senecas, but his mildness and modesty prevented his taking a prominent part among so many great warriors and orators. Besides all these there was a host of inferior chiefs, whose rank gave them a right to take part in the council, while close by were the other warriors of the tribes, painted and plumed, who had no vote in the proceedings, but who, in the democratic system of the Six Nations, might have a potent influence if they chose to exercise it. A number of British officers from Forts Niagara and Erie added splendor to the scene, and last, not least, was a row of old squaws, mothers in Israel, seated in modest silence behind the chiefs, but prepared if need be to express an authoritative opinion on the merits of the case — a right which would have been recognized by all. Such was the varied scene, and such the actors in it, on the banks of Buffalo creek, a little over eighty-seven years ago. 82 A LARCR MILL-SEAT. The council, as I have said, was very harmonious. The Indi- ans were wilHng to sell a part of their land, and apparently were not \ery particular about the price. The only dispute was whether the west line of the territory sold should be alons;" the Genesee river or, as Phelps desired, some distance this side. The Indians insisted that the Great Spirit had fixed on that stream as the boundar)' between them and the whites. After several days discussion, Phelps suggested that he wanted to build some mills at the falls of the Genesee, (now Rochester,) which would be \'er}' convenient for Indians as well as whites. Would his red brethren let him have a mill-seat, and land enough for convenience around it. Oh, yes, certainly, mills would be a fine thing, and their w liite brother should have a mill-seat. How much land did he want for that purpose ? After due deliberation Phelps replied that he thought a strip about twelve miles wide, extending from Avon to the mouth of the river, twenty-eight miles, would be about right ! The Indians thought that would be a pretty large mill-seat, but as they supposed the Yankees knew best what was necessary for the purpose they let him have the land. As it contained something over 2OO,O00 acres it was probably the largest mill- seat ever known. From Avon south, the west line of the purchase was to run along the Genesee to the mouth of the Caneseraga, and thence due south to the Pennsylvania line. This was "Phelps and Gor- ham's Purchase." It included about 2,600,000 acres, and the price was left by the complaisant aborigines to Col. Butler, Joseph Brant and h'Jisha Lee, Mr. Kirkland's assistant. They fixed the price at five thousand dollars in hand, and five hun- dred dollars annually, forever. This was about equal to twelve thousand dollars in cash, or half a cent an acre. Two weeks later we find Col. Butler calling on Mr. Phelps b)' letter for a conveyance of twenty thousand acres of the land, in accordance with a previous arrangement. Phelps duly trans- ferred the land to the persons designated by Butler. Consider- ing that the colonel had been one of the referees to fix the price, this transfer looks as if some of the Indian operations of that era would not bear investigating any better than those of later date. THE FIRST WIIITK RESIDENT. CHAPTER XII. FROM 1788 TO 1797. " Skendyoiigliwatti."— First White Resident. — A Son of Africa.— Tlie Flollaiul Pur- chase.— Proctor's Visit. — British Influence. — Woman's Rights. — Final Fail- ure.—The Indians Insolent. — Wayne"s Victory.— Johnston, Middaugh and Lane. — The Forts Surrendered.— Asa Ransom.— The Mother's Strategy — First White Child. — The Indians Sell Out.— Reservations. Mr. Kirkland made another journey to Buffalo creek the next fall, seeking to pacify those Indians who were discontented re- garding the sale just made by the Senecas, and also about those made by other tribes to the State of lands farther east. He mentions seeking the aid of the second man of influence among the Senecas on Buffalo creek, "Skendyoughwatti." This fearful-looking name I understand to be the same as that called " Conjockety " by the early settlers, and which their descendants have transmuted into Scajaquada. In returning, Kirkland says he lodged at "the Governor's vil- lage," on the Genesee, and adds : " The Governess had set out for Niagara near a week before. I had not her aid in the coun- cil." This "Governess" is mentioned in other accounts, and seems to have been a very important • personage, but who she was, or what her functions, is among the mysteries of local history. In 1789 the county of Ontario was erected from Montgomery, (to which name that of Tryon county has been changed,) in- cluding the whole of the Massachusetts land, or substantially all west of Seneca Lake ; a territory now comprising thirteen counties and two parts of counties. About this time, certainly before 1791, and probably in 1789, the first white man took up his permanent residence in Erie county. This was Cornelius Winne, or Winney, a Hudson river Dutchman, who established a little log store for trading with the Indians on the site of Buffalo, at the foot of the hill which old residents still remember as existing at the Mansion House. This was four miles from the main Seneca village, but there were 84 THE HOLLAND PURCHASE. scattered luits all the way down tlie creek to Farmer's Point, where Farmer's Brother Hved. Captain Powell had an interest in Winney's store. I call Winney the first resident, for though William Johnston had spent much time among the Senecas, as a kind of British agent, and had taken a Seneca wife, there is no evidence that he had made his permanent abode among them. Almost as soon as the earliest white man — possibly preceding him — the irrepressible African made his advent in our county ; for in 1792 I find "Black Joe," alias Joseph Hodge, established as an Indian trader on Cattaraugus creek, and from the way in which he is mentioned I infer that he had already been there a considerable time. Meanwhile the adoption of the Federal Constitution had caused a great rise in Massachusetts stocks, so that Phelps and Gorham were unable to make the payments they had agreed on. After much negotiation, Massachusetts released them from their contract as to all the land except that to which they had extinguished the Indian title, to wit, " Phelps and Gorham's Purchase." Of that the State gave them a deed in full. Massachusetts at once sold the released land in five tracts to Robert Morris, the merchant prince of Philadelphia, and the celebrated financier of the Revolution. The easternmost of these tracts Mr. Morris sold out in small parcels. The remaining four constituted the "Holland Purchase." Mr. Morris sold it by four conveyances (not corresponding, however, to the four given b}- Massachusetts) made in 1792 and '93, to several Americans who held it in trust for a number of Hollanders, who being aliens could not hold it in their own name. As they did not begin the settlement of the county until several years later, it is unneces- sary to say more of them here. In 1791 there was great uneasinesss among the Indians, even in this vicinity, and in the West they were constantly committing depredations. The British still held all the forts on the Ameri- can side of the boundary line, in open violation of the treaty of peace, alleging that the Americans had also failed to comply with its provisions. To what extent they encouraged the In- dians to hostilities is not known, but in view of the protecto- rate which they openh' assumed over the savages, and which the troctor's visit. 85 latter acknowledged, it cannot well be doubted that the English influence was hostile to the United States. In April, 1791, Col. Thomas Proctor, a commissioner ap- pointed by the War Department, came from Philadelphia to Cornplanter's villages on the Allegany, thence, accompanied by that chief and many of his warriors, to the Cattaraugus settle- ment, and then down the beach of the lake to Buffalo creek. Horatio Jones, the celebrated captive and interpreter, was also of the party. Proctor's object was to persuade the Senecas to use their influence to stop the hostilities of the western Indians, (against whom Gen. St. Clair was then preparing to move,) and to that end to send a delegation of chiefs along with him on a mission to the Miamis. His journal is published by Ketchum, and gives much information regarding the condition of affairs in Erie county in 1791. He found the English influence very strong, the Indians ob- taining supplies not only of clothing but of provisions from Forts Erie and Niagara. On the commissioner's arrival "Young King," who could not have been over twenty-two or three years old, met him, apparelled in the full uniform of a British colonel, red, with blue facings and gold epaulets. The Senecas were also in possession of a two-pound swivel, which they fired in honor of the occasion, the gunner wisely standing inside the council house while he touched it off with a long pole passed be- tween the logs. The charge was so heavy that it upset the gun and its carriage. At this time Red Jacket had risen to a high position, being- mentioned by Proctor as " the great speaker, and a prince of the Turtle tribe." In fact, however, he belonged to the Wolf clan. On Proctor's stating his object in the council, Red Jacket ques- tioned his authority. This, as the colonel was informed by a French trader, was the result of the insinuations of Butler and Brant, who had been there a week before and had advised the Indians not to send a delegation to the Miamis. Proctor offered to present his credentials to any one in whom they had confi- dence, and they at once sent for the commandant at Fort Erie. The latter sent back Capt. Powell, who seems to have acted as a kind of guardian to the Indians during the proceedings. These were very deliberate, and were adjourned from day to day. 86 Dixixci WITH r.u; sky. Red Jacket was the spokesman of the Indians, and declared their determination to move the council to Niagara, insisting on the commissioner's accompanying them the next day as far as Capt. Powell's house below Fort Erie. Proctor peremptorily de- clined. Then Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother addressed the council by turns, the result being that a runner was at once sent to Niagara to summon Col. Butler to the council. After two or three days delay Butler came to Winney's store-house, and re- quested the sachems and head men to meet him there, but said nothing about Proctor. While waiting, the commissioner dined with "Big Sky," head chief of the Onondagas, whose "castle" he describes as being three miles east from "Buffalo" meaning from the Seneca vil- lage. There were twenty-eight good cabins near it, and the inhabitants were well clothed, especially the women, some of whom, according to Col. P., were richly dressed, "with silken Stroud" and silver trappings worth not less than thirty pounds ($150) per suit ! It seems, too, that they had advanced so far in civilization that the ladies were invited to the feast of the warri- ors, which consisted principally of young pigeons boiled and stewed. These were served up in hanks of six, tied around the necks with deer's sinews, and were ornamented with pin feathers. However, the colonel made a good meal. On the 4th of May the Indians repaired to the store-house to hold council with Butler. The latter invited Proctor to dine with him and his officers, including Capts. Powell and Johnston. They talked Indian fluently, and advised the chiefs not to go with the commissioner then, but to wait for Brant, who had gone west. Red Jacket and Young King appear to have been work- ing for Proctor. The latter at length resented the interference of the British and insisted on a speedy answer from the Indi- ans. Every paper delivered to the chiefs was handed over to Butler, who went back to P'ort Erie next day. On the 6th of May, Ambassador Red Jacket announced that there would be no council, as the honorable councilors were going out to hunt pigeons. Proctor makes special mention of the immense number of pigeons found — over a hundred nests on a tree, with a pair of pigeons in each. On the 7th a private council was held, at which land was woman's rights. • Sy assigned to Indians of other tribes who had fled from the Shaw- nees and Miamis. "Capt. Smoke" and the Delawares under his ehari^^e were assigned to Cattaraugus, where their descendants dwell at the present day. Several Missisauga families had plant- ing-grounds given them near the village of Buffalo creek. On the nth, Proctor declares there was a universal drunk; "Cornplanter and some of the elder women excepted," from which the natural inference is that the young women indulged with the rest. Finally, on the 15th of May, the elders of the women repaired to the commissioner's hut, and declared that they had taken the matter into consideration, and that they should be listened too, for, said they: "We are the owners of this land, and it is ours;" adding, as an excellent reason for the claim, "for it is we that plant it." They then requested Colonel Proctor to listen to a formal address from "the women's speaker," they having ap- pointed Red Jacket for that purpose. The alarm-gun was fired, and the chiefs came together, the elder women being seated near them. Red Jacket arose, and after many florid preliminaries, announced that the women had decided that the sachems and warriors must help the commis- sioner, and that a number of them would accompany him to the West. Col. Proctor was overjoyed at this happy exemplification of woman's rights, and seems to have thought there would be no further difficulty. He forthwith dispatched a letter by the trusty hands of Horatio Jones to Col. Gordon, the commandant at Niagara — who was located opposite the fort of that name — asking that himself and the Indians might take passage on some British merchant-vessel running up Lake Erie, since the chiefs refused to go in an open boat. (It is worth no- ticing that even so late as 1791, Proctor spoke of Jones' crossing the " St. Lawrence " instead of the Niagara.) Gordon, in the usual spirit of English officials on the frontier at that time, refused the permission, and so the whole scheme fell through. It was just what was to have been expected, though Proctor does not seem to have expected it, and it is very likely the whole thing was well understood between the British and Indians. 88 PI.KXTV OF SPIRITS. While it was supposed that Red Jacket and others would go with Proctor, that worthy had several requests to make. Firstly, the colonel was informed that his friends expected something to drink, as they were going to have a dance before leaving their women. This the commissioner responded to with a present of "eight gallons of the best spirits." Then Red Jacket remarked that his house needed a floor, and Proctor offered to have one made. Then he preferred a claim for a special allowance of rum for his wife and mother, and in fact — well — he wanted a little rum himself So the colonel provided a gallon for the great orator and his wife and mother. Young King was not less importunate, but Cornplanter was modest and dignified, as became a veteran warrior. But the worthy commissioner made due provision for them all. The projected expedition having thus fallen through, Young- King made a farewell speech, being aided by " P'ish Carrier," a Caj'uga chief, whose " keen gravity " put Proctor in mind of a Roman senator, and who seems to have been a man of great importance, though never putting himself forward as a speech- maker. The Indjans must have had a pretty good time during Proc- tor's stay, as his liquor bill at Cornelius Winney's was over a hundred and thirty dollars. A very curious item in the commissioner's diary is this : " Gave a white prisoner that lived with said Winney nine pounds four and a half pence." Who he was, or to whom he could have been prisoner, is a mystery, since the Indians certainly held no prisoners at that time, and Cornelius, the Dutch trader, could hardly have captured a white man, though the law would Iiave allowed him to own a black one. All this counciling having come to naught, Col. Proctor set out for Pittsburg on the 2 1st of May, having spent nearly a month in the very highest society of Erie county. A little later, the successive defeats of Harmer and .St. Clair, by the western Indians, aroused all the worst passions of the Iroquois. Their manners toward the Americans became inso- lent in the extreme, and it is positively asserted that some of their warriors united with the hostile bands. There is little doubt that another severe disaster would have disposed a large Wayne's victory. 89 part of them to rise in arms, and take revenge for the unforgot- ten though well-merited punishment inflicted by Sullivan. Yet they kept up negotiations with the United States ; in fact nothing delighted the chiefs more than holding councils, making treaties, and performing diplomatic pilgrimages. They felt that at such times they were indeed " big Indians." In 1792, Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother were two of fifty chiefs who visited the seat of government, then at Philadelphia. The former then claimed to be in favor of civilization, and it was at this time that Washington gave him the celebrated medal which he afterwards wore on all great occasions. It was of sil- ver, oval in form, about seven inches long by five wide, and rep- resented a white man in a general's uniform, presenting the pipe of peace to an Indian scantily attired in palm leaves. The latter has flung down his tomahawk, which lies at his feet. Be- hind them is shown a house, a field, and a man ploughing. A characteristic anecdote is told of Red Jacket, by his biog- rapher, regarding one of these visits. On his arrival at the seat of government. Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, presented the distinguished Seneca with the full uniform of a military offi- cer, with cocked hat and all equipments complete. I^ed Jacket requested the bearer to tell Knox that he could not well wear military clothes, he being a civil sachem, not a war chief If any such present was to be made him, he would prefer a suit of civilian's clothes, but would keep the first gift till the other was sent. In due time a handsome suit of citizen's clothes was brought to his lodging. The unsophisticated savage accepted it, and then remarked to the bearer that in time of war the sa- chems went out on the war-path with the rest, and he would keep the military suit for such an occasion. And keep it he did. In 1794, Mad Anthony Wayne went out to Ohio. He did not allow himself to be .surprised, and when he met the hordes of the Northwest he struck them down with canister and bayonet, until they thought the angel of death himself was on their track. Said Joshua Fairbanks, of Lewiston, to a Miami Indian who had fled from that terrible onslaught : " What made you run away ? " With gestures corresponding to his words, and endeavoring to represent the effect of the can- non, he replied : C)0 JOHNSTON, MIDDAUCill AND LANE. " Pop, pop, pop — boo, WOO, WOO — whish, whish — boo, woo — kill twenty Indians one time — no good, by dam." The Senecas had runners stationed near the scene of conflict, and when they brought back the news of the tremendous pun- ishment inflicted on their western friends, all the Iroquois in Western New York resolved to be "good Indians;" and from that time forth they transgressed only by occasional ebullitions of passion or drunkenness. In September of that year (1794), another treaty was made at Canandaigua, by which the United States agreed to give the New York Iroquois $10,000 worth of goods, and an annuity of $4,000 annually in clothing, domestic animals, etc. It was also fully agreed that the Senecas should have all the land in New- York west of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, except the reser- vation a mile wide along the Niagara. This council at Canandaigua was the last one at which the United States treated with the Iroquois as a confcderac)-. Wil- liam Johnston, so often mentioned before, came there, and was discovered haranguing some of the chiefs. It was believed that he was acting in behalf of the British, to prevent a treaty, and Col. Pickering, the United States commissioner, compelled him to leave. About this time, or a little earlier, Johnston took up his per- manent residence in a block-house which he built near Winney's store, at the mouth of Buffalo creek. His Indian friends gave him two square miles of land in the heart of the present city of Buffalo. His title would doubtless have been considered void in the courts of the pale-faces, but so long as the Senecas should retain their land Johnston would be allowed to use his magnifi- cent domain at will. About the same time as Johnston, perhaps a little later, one Martin Middaugh, a Hudson river Dutchman, though re- cently from Canada, and his son-in-law, Ezekiel Lane, were allowed by Johnston to build a log house on his land, near his own residence. Middaugh was a cooper, and perhaps made some barrels for the Indians, but both he and Lane seem to have been dependents of Johnston. There had begun to be considerable travel through Erie county. There was emigration to Canada, which was rapidly TIIK FIRST TAVERN. 91 settling up, and also to Ohio, which was open for purchase. There were no roads but Indian trails, but some way or other people managed to flounder through. In 1794 or '95 the first tavern was opened in the county. In the latter year there came hither a French duk-e, bearing the ancient and stately name of De La Rochefoucauld Liaincourt, probably driven from France by the revolution, who was desir- ous of seeing the red man in his native wilds. On his way to the Seneca village he and his companions passed the night at " Lake Erie," the name applied to the cluster of log houses on Johnston's land. When men spoke of " Buffalo," they referred to the village of the Senecas. There was then something in the shape of an inn, but if the landlord " kept tavern " he kept nothing else; "for," says the duke in his travels, "there was literally nothing in the house, neither furniture, rum, candles, nor milk." The absence of rum was certainly astonishing. Milk was at length procured " from the neighbors," and rum and candles from across the river. The name of this frugal pioneer landlord is supposed to have been Skinner, as a man of that name certainly kept there only a little later. On the 4th of July, 1796, Fort Niagara and the other posts so long withheld were surrendered by the British to the United States. This strengthened the impression made on the Indians by Wayne's victory, and confirmed them in the disposition to cultivate friendly relations with the Americans. In that year, too, the little settlement of "Lake Erie" was in- creased by the arrival from Geneva of Mr. Asa Ransom, a reso- lute and intelligent young man, a silversmith by trade, who built a log house near the site of the liberty pole, established him- self there with his delicate young wife and infant daughter, and went to work making silver brooches, ear-rings, and other orna- ments in which the soul of the red man and the red man's wife so greatly delighted. This was the first family that brought into Erie county the habits and refinements of civilized life. At this time, the few settlers who wanted to get corn ground were obliged to take it over the river, and down to Niagara, forty miles distant. On one occasion, some little time after the arri- val of Mr. Ransom, he and all the other men of the settlement. 92 THK .mother's STRATEGY. (three or four in number,) had L!:onc to Canada to mill, except Cornelius Winney and Black Joe, who had left the Cattaraugus Indians and was living with Winney. While they were gone .several Indians came to Ran.som's hou.se and demanded "rum," about the only English word they knew. Mrs. Ransom told them she had none, but they insisted .she had. On her con- tinued refusal one of them suddenly seized her only child, a little girl of two years old, which was toddling about the floor, and with uplifted tomahawk threatened its life. Probably this was only done to scare, but the mother did not understand such a jest. Though frightened beyond measure she had sufficient pres- ence of mind to try strategy on the evil-minded crew. She im- mediately promised them rum, (partly by words and partly by signs,) if they would allow her to go up stairs to get it. They assented, but insisted on retaining her infant as a hostage for the appearance of the stimulant. Taking her niece, a girl of twelve, Mrs. Ransom went up- stairs into the low chamber of their log house, and immediately fastened the door behind her. Then snatching a pair of sheets from the bed she hastily knotted them together, and with this improvised rope she lowered the girl to the ground, directing her to hasten at once to Mr. Winney, whose influence was sup- posed to be sufficient to pacify the angry savages. Then with wildly-beating heart the mother waited, fearing every moment lest she should hear the screams of her child, sac- rificed in a sudden freak of barbaric rage. Ere long the In- dians were heard beating on the door with their tomahawks, but it was a stout one, and before it could be broken down Winney arrived. By some means he managed to control them, and in- duced them to withdraw. But to the end of her life the mother never told the tale, without betraying by her faltering voice and paling cheek how deeply she had felt the terrors of that day. The infant heroine of this exciting scene bore the dramatic name of Portia, but was afterwards better known as Mrs. Chris- topher M. Harvey. In the fall of 1797 the "Lake Erie" settlement received an- other addition by the arrival of a daughter in the Ransom fami- THE INDIANS SELL OUT. 93 ly, being the first white child born in Erie county, so far as known, and the first in New York west of the Genesee river, outside of Fort Niagara. Some twenty-two years later this little stranger became Mrs. Frederick B. Merrill. I mentioned some pages back the sale by Robert Morris to certain Holland gentlemen, (through their American friends,) of nearly all the land west of the Genesee ; the seller agreeing to extinguish the Indian title. It was not until 1797 that this could be accomplished. In September of that year a council was held at Geneseo, at which Morris bought the whole of the remaining Seneca lands in New York, except eleven reservations of various sizes, comprising in all about three hundred and thir- ty-eight square miles. Of these the Buffalo creek reservation, the largest of all, lay wholly in Erie county. By the terms of the treaty it was to contain a hundred and thirty square miles, lying on both sides of Buffalo creek, about seven miles wide from north to south, and extending eastward from Lake Erie. The Cattaraugus reservation was to contain forty-two square miles, on both sides of Cattaraugus creek near its mouth, being in the present coun- ties of Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. As finally surveyed about thirty-four square miles were in Erie county. The Tonawanda reservation was to contain seventy square miles, lying on both sides of Tonawanda creek, beginning "about twenty-five miles" from its mouth, and running east "about seven miles wide." Of this, as surveyed, some fifteen square miles were in Erie county. The other reservations, which were all small, were entirely outside of the county. As will have been seen, the amounts reserved were all definite, but the precise lines were left to be located afterwards, in order not to crowd any of the Indian villages. The tract bought, aside from the reservations, contained about three million three hundred thousand acres, for which Morris paid ten thousand dollars, or less than a third of a cent per acre. Considering the complaints which Indians are all the time making about the loss of their lands, it certainly seems strange that they should throw them away by the million acres for a merely nominal price, as they have usually done. The sale to Phelps and Gorham was not so excesssively strange because it 94 FOLLY OF TIJK IX1)L\NS. in\'ol\-ed no chani^e in their mode of life. Tlic\' still had vast hunting grounds west of the Genesee. But that to Morris at once destroyed all hope of living by the chase, and necessitated their adopting to a considerable extent the habits of the white man. They appear to have forgotten all about the Great Spirit's fixing the Genesee as their eastern boundary. Yet they showed no inclination to demand white men's prices for their land. Certainly such men as Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother, who had visited the eastern cities and had seen the wealth of the whites, must have known that a third of a cent per acre was a very poor price to pay for land. True, we may suppose they were bought, (which would accord with Red Jacket's character,) but one would imagine that, in the democratic Iroquois system, the warriors of the tribe could easily have prevented a sale, and in view of their reiterated complaints over the Fort Stanwix treaty and the sale to Phelps and Gorham, it is strange they did not do so. They must have wanted whisky ver}' badly. THE HOLLAND COMPANY. 95 CHAPTER XIII. PREPARING FOR SETTLEMENT. The Holland Company.— Three Sets of Proprietors.— Their System of Surveys.— The State Reservation. —The West Transit.— The Founder of Buffalo.— The First Road. — Indian Trails.— New Amsterdam. — Hotel at Clarence.- A Young Stranger. — Ellicott made Agent. — First Wheat. Much has been written and more has been said about the "Holland Company." When people wished to be especially precise they called it the "Holland Land Company." It has been praised and denounced, blessed and cursed, besought for favors and assailed for refusal, almost as much as any institution in America. Not only in common speech, in newspapers and in books, but in formal legal documents it has been again and again described as the "Holland Company" or the "Holland Land Company," according to the fancy of the writer. Yet there never was any such thing as the Holland Company or the Holland Land Company. Certain merchants and others of the city of Amsterdam placed funds in the hands of friends who were citizens of Amer- ica, to purchase several tracts of land in the United States, which, being aliens, the Hollanders could not hold in their own name at that time. One of these tracts, comprising what was afterwards known as the Holland Purchase, was bought from Robert Morris as has before been mentioned. F'rom their names, I should infer that most of those who made the purchase for the Hollanders were themselves of Holland birth, but had been naturalized in the United States. In the forepart of 1798 the legislature of New York author- ized those aliens to hold land within the State, and in the latter part of that year the American trustees conveyed the Holland Purchase to the real owners. It was transferred, however, to two sets of proprietors, and one of these sets was soon divided into two, making three in all. Each set held its tract as "joint tenants," that is, the survivors took the whole ; the shares could g6 THREE SETS OE PROPRIETORS. not be the subject of will nor sale, and did not pass by inher- itance, except in case of the last survivor. But there was no incorporation and no legal company. All deeds were made in the name of the individual proprietors. The three sets of owners appointed the same general and local agents, who in their behalf carried out one system in dealing with the settlers, though apportioning the expenses among the three sets according to their respective interests, and paying to each the avails of their own lands. At the first transfer by the trustees the whole tract, except 300,000 acres, was conveyed to VVilhem Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van Eeghen, Hendrick Vollcnhoven, and Rut- ger Jan Schimmelpenninck. The 300,000 acres were conveyed to Wilhem Willink, Jan Willink, Wilhcm Willink, Jr., and Jan Willink, Jr. Two years later the five proprietors of the main tract transferred the title of about a million acres so that it was vested in the original five and also in Wilhem Willink, Jr., Jan Willink, Jr., Jan Gabriel Van Staphorst, Roelif Van Staphorst, Jr., Cornelius Vollenhoven and Hendrick Scye. Pieter Stad- nitzki, was also made a partner, though in some unknown manner. In the hands of these three sets of owners the titles remained during the most active period of settlement, only as men died their shares passed to the survivors, and their names were drop- ped out of the deeds. Some twenty years later new proprie- tors were brought in, but the three sets remained as before. It will be observed that Wilhem Willink was the head of each of the three sets, and as he outlived nearly all the rest his name was the first in every deed. The same proprietors, or a portion of them, also held large bodies of land in Central New York and in Pennsylvania, all managed by the same general agent at Philadelphia. P'or convenience, however, all these owners will be described throughout this work by the name to which every one in Erie county is accustomed, that of the " Holland Company," and their tract in Western New York will be considered as distinct- ively the " Holland Purchase," though there were other bodies of land equally well entitled to the name. The first general agent of the company was Theophilus Caze- nove, a Hollander sent out from Europe for the purpose. Pre- SURVEYING. 97 vious to tlie extinguishment of the Indian title to the Company's lands in New York, Cazenove had employed Joseph Ellicott to survey their tract in Pennsylvania. He was a younger brother of Andrew A. Ellicott, then surveyor-general of the United States', and had assisted him in laying out the city of Washington. As soon as the treaty was made with the Indians, in the fall of 1797, Mr. Cazenove employed the same efficient person to survey the new tract. That same autumn he and Augustus Porter, the surveyor employed by Robert Morris, in order to as- certain the number of acres in the Purchase, took the necessary assistance, began at the northeast corner, traversed the northern bounds along Lake Ontario to the Niagara, thence up the river to Lake Erie, and thence along the lake shore to the western boundary of the State. No sooner had the keen eye of Joseph Ellicott rested on the location at the mouth of Buffalo creek than he made up his mind that that was a most important position, and he ever after showed his belief by his acts. The next spring, (1798,) the grand surveying campaign began, with Ellicott as general-in-chief He himself ran the east line of the Purchase, usually called the East Transit. Eleven other surveyors, each with his corps of axemen, chain men, etc., went to work at different points, running the lines of ranges, town- ships and reservations. All through the Purchase the deer were startled from their hiding-places, the wolves were driven growling from their lairs, by bands of men with compasses and theodolites, chains and flags, while the red occupants looked sullenly on at the rapid parceling out of their broad and fair domain. The survey system adopted by the Holland Company was substantially the same as that previously followed on Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, and was not greatly different from that now in use by the United States all over the West. The tract was first divided into ranges six miles wide, running from Penn- sylvania to Lake Ontario, and numbered from east to west. These were subdivided into townships six miles square, num- bered from south to north. The original intention was to divide every complete township into sixteen sections, each a mile and a half square; subdividing 98 THE SURVKV SYSTEM. these into lots, each three quarters of a mile long- and one quar- ter wide, ev^ery one containing just a hundred and twenty acres. This plan, however, was soon abandoned as inconvenient and complicated, and the townships were divided into lots three fourths of a mile square, containing three hundred and sixty acres each. These were sold off in parcels to suit purchasers. It was a common but not invariable rule to divide them into "thirds" of a hundred and twenty acres each. Twenty-four townships had already been surveyed when the first plan was abandoned, three of which were in Eric county, being the present town of Lancaster and the southern part of Newstcad and Clarence. Both systems differ from that of the United States, in that by the latter each township is divided into sections a mile square, and these into quarter-sections of a hundred and thirty acres each. It will be understood that various causes, such as the exist- ence of lakes and rivers, the use of large streams as boundaries, the great fickleness of the magnetic needle, the interposition of reservation lines, etc., frequently caused a variation from the normal number of square miles in a township, or of acres in a lot. The surveys went briskly forward. Ellicott, after running the east line of the Purchase, stayed at " Buffalo Creek " the greater part of the season, directing operations. By this name I refer to the cluster of cabins at the mouth of the creek, previously called " Lake Erie " ; for on the opening of surveys that appel- lation was dropped, and the name "Buffalo Creek" was speedily transferred thither from the Seneca village to which it had be- fore pertained. In the fall Seth Pea.se ran the line of the State reservation along the Niagara river, or the "streights of Niagara," as that stream was then frequently termed. There was some difficulty in determining its boundaries at the southern end, as the lake gradually narrowed so it was hard to tell where it ended and the river began. It was at length agreed between the State author- ities and the company that the river should be considered to commence where the water was a mile wide. From the point on the eastern bank opposite this mile width Till'. STATl-; Ri:SERVATION. 99 of water, a boundary was drawn, consisting of numerous short lines, amounting substantially to the arc of a circle with a mile radius, giving to the State all the land within a mile of the river, whether east from its eastern bank or south from its head. The boundary in question, since known as the " mile line," began at the foot of Genesee street, as afterwards laid out, crossed Church street a little west of Genesee, crossed Niagara street a few rods northwest of Mohawk, continued on the arc above described to the intersection of North and Pennsylvania streets, and thence ran northward, always keeping a mile from the river, to Lake Ontario. Beside the East Transit, another standard meridian was run as a base of operations in the w^estern part of the Purchase, and called the West Transit. It was the line between the sixth and seventh ranges, and is now the boundary between Clarence, Lancaster, Elma, Aurora and Colden on the east, and Am- herst, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, East Hamburg and Boston on the west. A portion of the 300,000 acres conveyed to the four Willinks, as before mentioned, lay in a strip nearly a mile and a half wide, (113 chains, 68 links,) just west of the West Transit, extending from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario. The rest of the land be- longing to that set of proprietors was in the southeast corner of the Purchase. All that part of Erie county west of the West Transit (except the preemption right to the reservations), was included in the conveyance of a million acres to the larger set of proprietors, while that part east of the Transit was retained by the five orig- inal owners. The transit, however, was not the line between the two sets throughout the whole Purchase. The city of Buffalo was founded by Joseph Ellicott. He not only selected the site and laid out the town, but it was only through his good judgment and special exertions that there was any toAvn there. All through the summer and fall of 1798, though only the su- perintendent of surveys, and in no way responsible for the future prosperity of the Purchase, he labored zealously to get room for a city at the foot of Lake Erie. He saw that the State reser- vation would come down within a short distance of the cluster lOO THE FOUNDER OF BUFFALO. of cabins which he meant should be the nucleus of a great com- mercial emporium. He saw, too, that if the Buffalo Creek res- ervation, (w^iich by the treaty with Morris was to be seven miles wide, lying on both sides of the creek), should be surveyed with straight lines, it would run square against the State reservation, and cut off the Holland Company entirely from the foot of the lake. The Indians were not particular about having the land at the mouth of the creek for themselves, but they had granted two square miles to their friend Johnston, and, though they could give no title, they could insist on the whole being included in their reserve, unless an arrangement should be made with him. The}' had also given him, substantially, a life-lease of a mill- seat and certain timbered lands on Scajaquada creek, six miles from the mouth of the Buffalo. Ellicott made frequent attempts to arrange matters with John- ston, but thought him somewhat extravagant in his demands. In a letter to Cazenove, dated at Buffalo Creek, Sept. 28, 1798. Ellicott says : " I have always considered this place one of the keys to the company's lands." Three times in two pages he speaks of it as "the favorite spot." At length he succeeded in making a compromise with John- ston, by which the latter agreed to use his influence to have the Indians leave the town-site out of the reservation, on condition that the company should deed to him the mill-site, a mile square of land adjoining it, and forty-five and a half acres in the town, including his improvements. Johnston's influence was sufficient. So, instead of the north boundary of the Buffalo Creek reser- vation being extended due west, along the line of William street, striking the State reservation near Fourth street, as would otherwise have been the case, it turned, just east of what is now- known as " East Buffalo," and ran southwest to the creek, and thence to the lake. It is now for nearly two miles the boundary between the first and fifth wards. About this time Sylvanus Maybee came to Buffalo as an In- dian trader, and Mr. John Palmer took the place of Skinner as innkeeper. The previous winter the legislature had authorized the laying out of a State road from Conewagus (Avon) to Buffalo Creek, and INDIAN TRAIL. 10 1 another to Lewiston. The Company subscribed five thousand dollars for cutting them out. The first wagon-track opened in Erie county was made under the direction of Mr. Ellicott, who, in the spring of 1798, employed men to improve the Indian trail from the East Transit to Buffalo. This trail ran from the east, even from the valley of the Hud- son, crossing the Genesee at Avon, running through Batavia, and down the north side of Tonawanda creek, crossing into Erie county at the Tonawanda Indian village. Thence it ran over the site of Akron, through Clarence Hollow and Williams- ville, to Cold Spring, and thence following nearly the line of Main street to the creek. A branch turned off, running not far from North street to Black Rock, where both Indians and whites were in the habit of crossing to Canada. Another branch diverged at Clarence, struck Cayuga creek near Lancaster, and ran down it to the Seneca village. Another principal trail ran from Little Beard's Town, on the Genesee, entered Erie county near the southeast corner of the present town of Alden, struck the reservation at the southwest corner of that town, and ran thence westerly to the Seneca village. Besides, there were trails up the Cazenove and Eighteen-Mile creeks, and between the Buffalo and Cataraugus villages. In 1799 little was done except to push forward the surveys. It was determined that the city to be built on the ground se- cured by Mr. Ellicott should be called "New Amsterdam," and he began to date his letters at that address. In that year the company offered several lots, about ten miles apart, on the road from the East Transit to Buffalo, to any proper men who would build and keep open taverns upon them. The lots were not donated, but were to be sold at the company's lovv-est price, on long time and without interest. In Erie county this offer was accepted by Asa Ransom, the Buffalo silversmith, who located himself at what is now Clar- ence Hollow. This was the first settlement in Erie county made white-man fashion, that is, with a white man's view of obtaining legal title to the land. All previous settlement had been mere- ly on sufferance of the Indians. 102 THE YOUNG STRANGER. One of the first strangers who applied for entertainment at the new hotel was a young gentleman afterwards known as Colonel Harry B. Ransom. He arrived in November, 1799, and was in ail probability the first white male child born in Erie county. In this year a contract was granted evidently by special favor, to Benjamin Ellicott (brother of Joseph) and John Thomson, two of the surveyors, for three hundred acres in township 12, range 7, (Amherst,) which was not yet subdivided into lots. There is some discrepancy in the description as recorded, but I am satisfied that the contract covered the site of VVilliamsville, and the water-power there. The price was two dollars per acre. The same year Timothy S. Hopkins, afterwards well known as Gen. Hopkins, came into the county and took charge of Johnston's saw-mill, the only one in the county, where he worked during the season. Notwithstanding the absence of regular set- tlers, the numerous camps of surveyors made "brisk times," and any one who was willing to work could get good wages and prompt pay. Theophilus Cazenove, the general agent of the company, re- turned to Europe in 1799. His name, given by Mr. Ellicott to one of the largest streams in Erie county, remains as a perpetual reminiscence of his connection with the Holland Purchase. His place as agent was supplied by Paul Busti, a native of Italy, who until his death, twenty-four years later, faithfully discharged the duties of that position. The next year the laying off of the Purchase into townships was completed, and a number of townships were subdivided into lots. Mr. Ellicott was appointed local agent for the sale of the land. While in the East, this season, he issued handbills headed "Holland Company West Geneseo lands," apprising the public that they would soon be for sale, and stating that they were situated adjacent to "Lakes Erie and Ontario and the streights of Niagara." Mr. Ransom raised some crops this year, and T. S. Hop- kins and Otis Ingalls cleared a piece of land two miles east, (in the edge of Newstead,) and raised wheat upon it ; the first on the Holland Purchase. When it was ready for grinding, Mr. THE FIRST WHEAT. I03 H. was obliged to take it to Street's mill at Chippewa, forty miles. He went with three yoke of cattle by way of Black Rock, the whole population of which then consisted of an Irish- man named O'Niel, who kept the ferry. The ferriage each way was two dollars and a half, and the trip must have taken at least four days. 104 PINE GROVE. CHAPTER XIV. BEGINNING OF SETTLEMENT. The Office at Pine Grove. — A Hard Problem. — The First Purchase. — Dubious Records. — An Aboriginal Engineer. — A Growing Family. — A Proposed School House. — A Venerable Mansion. — Chapin's Project. — The First Magistrate. At length all was ready. In January, 1801, Mr. Ellicott re- turned from the East, staid a few days at "New Amsterdam," and then located his office at "Ransomville," or "Pine Grove." Sometimes he used one appellation in dating his letters, some- times the other, apparently in doubt as to which was the more euphonious. He could hardly have anticipated that both these well-rounded names would finally be exchanged for "Clarence Hollow." Several townships were ready for sale on the Pur- chase, at least one of which was in Erie county. This was township twelve, range six, comprising the south part of the present town of Clarence. Though township twelve, range five, (Newstead,) lay directly east, no sales are recorded as made in it till the latter part of the year. Very slowly, at first, the settlement went forward. The land was offered at $2.75 per acre, ten per cent. down. But precisely there — on the ten per cent. — was the sticking-point. Men with even a small amount of money were unwilling to undertake the task of clearing up the forests, or oven the "oak openings," of the Holland Purchase. Those who wished to buy had no money. In a letter to Mr. Busti, dated Feb. 17, 1801, Mr. Ellicott says: "If some mode could be devised to grant land to actual settlers, who cannot pay in advance, and at the same time not destroy that part of the plan which requires some advance, I am convinced the most salutary results would follow." A rather difficult task, to dispense with the advance and yet retain the plan which required an advance. Mr. P^Uicott docs not solve the problem, but he seems to have been authorized to set aside the FIRST PURCHASE. IO5 plan, for the time, for we soon find him selHng without receiving the ten per cent, in advance. It may be doubted whether it would not have been better, both for the company and the settlers, if the general agent had insisted on the original system. Settlement would have been slower at first, but it must have come ere long and it would have had a firmer foundation. If a man cannot raise thirty or forty dollars to make a first payment on a farm, it is very doubtful whether he will make the whole amount off from the land. Many did, but many failed. There was, however, competition in every direction. There were large tracts yet unsold in the eastern and central parts of the State. "New Connecticut," now known as the Western Re- serve, in Ohio, was in market at low rates, the same was the case with Presque Isle, (Erie,) and in Canada the British govern- ment was granting lands at sixpence per acre. The Ohio lands appear to have been a favorite with many. On the 26th of February, Mr. Ellicott notes in his diary that over forty people — men, women and children— lodged at Ran- som's the night before, moving principally to New Connecticut and Presque Isle. Still sales went forward, especially in the present county of Genesee, next to the older settlements on Phelps and Gor- ham's Purchase. Some emigrants had previously come to this section for the purpose of settling on the Holland Purchase, but finding the land not in market had temporarily located in Can- ada, while awaiting the completion of the surveys. Some of these now returned and others came in from the East. The first record of any person's purchasing a piece of land in Erie county in the regular course of settlement, and aside from the special grants before mentioned, is that of Christopher Sad- dler, who took a contract, or "article," on the 12th of March, 1801, for 234 acres on lots i and 2, section 6, town 12, range 6; being about a mile east of Clarence Hollow. And here I may say that there is no certain record of the coming of the first settlers to the various towns. The books of the Holland Company only show when men agreed to pur- chase land, not when they actually settled. After a short time an arrangement was made by which land I06 AX ABORIGINAL ENGINEER. was " booked " to men who appeared to be reliable, for a dollar payment on each piece, when it would be kept for them a year before they were required to make their first payment and take an article. It soon became common for speculative persons to invest a little money in that way, in the hope of selling at a profit. Sometimes, too, men came from the East, looked up land and purchased in good' -faith, but did not occupy it for a year or two later. Once in a while, too, though this was more rare, a man located in the county without buying land. Consequently the records of the Holland Company are very unreliable as to dates in regard to individuals. Moreover, I have obtained my information from certified copies of the com- pany's books on file in Erie county clerk's office. These differ widely from the list of purchasers given in " Turner's Holland Purchase," also purporting to be copied from the company's books. Still, by comparing the two, and by eking them out with the recollections of old residents, I think I can give a tolerably clear idea of the general progress of settlement. Besides Mr. Saddler, among those who took lands in Clarence in 1 80 1 were John Haines, Levi Felton and Timothy S, Hop- kins. Of these Mr. Hopkins wks, as before stated, already a resident, and Mr. Felton probably became one that year. The road along the old Indian trail, from Batavia to Buffalo, was not satisfactory to Mr. Ellicott. So in March he made an arrangement with an Indian whom he called "White Seneca," but whom that Indian's son called " White Chief," to lay out and mark with his hatchet a new one on dryer land. He agreed to give ten dollars, and eight dollars for locating a road in a similar manner from Eleven-Mile creek, (Williamsville,) via the " mouth of the Tonnawanta " to " Old Fort Slosher." White Chief began on the 21st day of March, and on the 26th reported the completion of the survey of the first road. On the 28th Mr. Ellicott inspected a part of it, and appears to have been well pleased with the way in which the aboriginal engineer had followed the ridges and avoided the wet land. In June another youthful stranger came to the Ransom hotel, in the person of Asa Ransom, Jr., the second white male born in the county, who still survives, an opulent and well-known resident of Grand Island. Mr. Ransom, senior, announced the PROPOSED SCHOOL HOUSE. 10/ addition in a note to Mr. Ellicott, which the author of the llis- tor}' of the Holland Purchase mistakenly supposes to refer to the birth of Harry B. Ransom, who was a year and a half older. Thus, as far as known, Mr. and Mrs. Asa Ransom made all three of the first contributions to the white population of Erie county. However, there were some older children at the little settle- ment which the Holland Company had named " New Amster- dam," but which the inhabitants insisted on calling " Buffalo." Though there were but very few families, and the village was not yet surveyed so that lots could be bought, yet the people felt a laudable desire for educational privileges, and in August Joseph R. Palmer, brother of the tavern-keeper, applied to Mr. Ellicott on behalf of the inhabitants for the privilege of erecting a school-house on the company's land. He said the New York Missionary Society offered to furnish a school-master clear of expense, except boarding, and urged an immediate answer on the ground that the inhabitants had the timber " ready to hew out." Timber " ready to hew out " was a very common article on the Holland Purchase at that time, and its possession did not argue much of an advance in the construction of a building. It shows how little root the company's name of " New Am- sterdam " took among the people that, although Mr. Richards was asking a favor of the company's agent, yet he dated his letter at " Buffalo." Mr. Ellicott went thither a few days later, and laid off a lot for school purposes. No deed was given, however, and it does not appear that any school-house was built for several years after. Part of the time the log house formerly occupied by Middaugh was used as a school house. In the summer of 1801, the surveyor, John Thompson, put up a saw-mill at what is now Williamsville. He does not, however, seem to have done much with it, and perhaps did not get it into operation. If he did, it was soon abandoned. The same year he built a block-house for a dwellijig. It was afterwards clap- boarded, and a larger frame structure erected beside it, of which it formed the wing. The whole is still standing, a venerable brown edifice, known as the " Evans house," and the wing is un- questionably the oldest building in Erie county. io8 ciiapin's project. Only just three quarters of a century since it was built, and yet, in this county of more than two hundred thousand inhabi- tants, it seems a very marvel of antiquity. In the autumn of this year Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, a physician some thirty years old, then residing in Oneida county, came to Buffalo, and was so well pleased with the location that, on his return, he got forty substantial citizens to associate themselves with him, for the purpose of buying the whole township at the mouth of Buffalo creek. As Ellicott, however, had already fixed on that as "the favorite spot" for building a city, the am- bitious project of Dr. Chapin was promptly rejected. By November, 1801, township 12, range 5, (Newstead,) was ready for sale, and on the third of that month Asa Chapman made the first contract for land in that town, covering lot 10, in section 8, at $2.75 per acre. If he settled there he remained but a short time, as not long after he was living near Buffalo. The same month, Peter Vandeventer took four lots in sec- tions Eight and Nine, on which he settled almost immediately afterwards, and which was long known as the "Old Vandeventer Place." Timothy Jayne was another purchaser in Newstead that year. Otis Ingalls was already there, and probably Orlando Hopkins and David Cully came that year, though one account postpones their purchases till 1802. The last month of 1801 witnessed the first appointment of a white official of any description, resident within the present county of Erie. In that month the pioneer silversmith, tavern- keeper and father, Asa Ransom, was commissioned a justice of the peace by Governor George Clinton, the necessary document being transmitted by De Witt Clinton, nephew and private sec- retary of the governor. FORMATION OF GENESEE COUNTY. IO9 CHAPTER XV. 1802 AND 1803. Formation of Genesee County. — An Exciting Scene. — Red Jacket's Plea. — First Town Meeting. — Primitive Balloting. — The Big Tree Road. — Buffalo Sur- veyed.— Original Street Names. — Ellicott's Grand Design. — Dr. Chapin. — Erastus Granger. — Conjockety's Exploit. — The Pioneer of the .South Towns. — A Hard Trip. — Snow Shoes. Up to this time Ontario county had retained its original boundaries, including all that part of the State west of Seneca lake, except that Steuben county had been taken off. The Holland Purchase was a part of the town of Northampton. In the spring of 1802, Mr. Ellicott, by earnest personal solici- tation at Albany, procured the passage of an act creating the county of Genesee, comprising the whole of the State west of the river of that name and of a line running south from the " Great Forks." By the same act Northampton was divided into four towns, one of which, Batavia, consisted of the whole Holland Purchase and the State reservation along the Niagara. The county seat was established at Batavia, where Mr. Elli- cott had already laid out a village site, and whither he trans- ferred his head-quarters that same spring. The new county was not to be organized by the appointment of officers until the next year. In July an event occurred in Buffalo, which probably shook the nerves of its people more than any other occurrence before the war of 1812. John Palmer, the innkeeper, was sitting on a bench in front of his house one evening, in company with one William Ward and another man, when a young Seneca warrior, called by the whites " Stiff-armed George," approached, and en- deavored to stab Palmer. It is said that no provocation was given, but perhaps there had been some previous difficulty be- tween them. failing to injure Palmer, who evaded the attack, the infuri- ated savage turned upon Ward, and stabbed him in the neck, no KXCITIXG EVENTS. though not fatally. An alarm was rai.sed, the whites hurried to the spot, and at length secured the assassin, but not until he had inflicted three wounds on one of their number, named John Hewitt, killing him almost instantly. The Indian himself was also wounded. Different and contradictory statements have been published regarding this affair, but the culprit was probably sent off that night to Fort Niagara, and taken in charge by Major Moses Porter, who was then in command. The next day fifty or sixty warriors appeared in Buffalo, armed and painted, threatening if " Stiff- armed George" was executed to put all the whites to death. Finding where some of his blood had been spilled in securing him, they held a grand pow-wow over it, howling fiercely, brandishing their weapons, and frightening half out of their wits all but the boldest of the settlers. So great was the dismay that it is said some left the settle- ment, though where they could go for safety it would be diffi- cult to say. Benjamin Barton, Jr., then sheriff of Ontario coun- ty, (Genesee not being organized,) was in the vicinity or arrived soon afterwards. He proposed to serve a criminal precept on the Indian and take him to Canandaigua jail. This his breth- ren fiercely opposed. They said that the young warrior was drunk when tlie offense was committed, and should not, therefore, be punished as if he had been sober. Even this the whites de- nied, claiming that he w'as entirely sober when he committed the crime, though of course it would make no difference in law. Finally Barton and some of the chiefs went to Fort Niagara to consult with Major Porter. Arriving there they still persisted that their brother should not be taken like a thief to Canandai- gua jail, and probably Barton was not desirous of the job of escorting him through the wilderness. They pledged their words as chiefs that he should appear at Canandaigua for trial on the appointed day, and the story is that on these pledges he was allowed to depart, and that he ap- peared punctually on the day set. Certain it is that he was duly tried at the Canandaigua Oyer and Terminer, the next Februar}'. Red Jacket addressed the jury through an interpreter, plead- ing the drunkenness of the culprit as an excuse, and descanting PROGRESS IN CLARENCE. Ill eloquently on the many murders of Indians by white men, for whieh no punishment had ever been meted out. Nevertheless, "Stiff-armed George" was convicted. He was, however, par- doned on condition of his leaving the State, by Gov. Clinton, who probably thought it would be better to wait till the country was more thickly settled before beginning to hang Indians, if it could possibly be avoided. During 1802, emigration began to come in quite freely. The list of land-owners in what is now Clarence was increased b}' the names of Gardner Spooner, Abraham Shope, John Warren, Frederick Buck, John Gardner, Resolved G. Wheeler, William Updegraff, Edward Carney and Elias Ransom. Most of these located permanently in that town, among them Abraham Shope, a Pennsylvania German, who had been w^aiting in Canada a year or two for the Holland Purchase to be opened for sale. His son Abraham, then three years old, who still survives in a remarka- bly robust old age, says he can barely remember of living in a tent in the woods that summer, before the family moved into the log house which his father had erected. The same year land in township Twelve, range Five, (Newstead,) was charged to John Hill, Samuel Hill, William Deshay and others, most of whom soon became permanent residents. All the persons thus far named settled either on or close to the old "Buffalo road," laid out by "White Chief," which was the only line of communication with the outside world. Peter Vandeventer this year built him a log cabin, cleared up half an acre of land, ("just enough" as another old settler said "to keep the trees from falling on his house,") and opened a tavern, the first in Newstead. At that little log tavern, on the first day of March, 1803, oc- curred the first town-meeting on the Holland Purchase. Al- though it was a hundred miles to the farthest corner of the town of Batavia, yet the settlements were almost all on or near the "Buffalo road," the farthest being at New Amsterdam, tw^en- ty-two miles west, and at the East Transit, twenty-four miles east. Vandeventer's was evidently selected as a central location. A very interesting account of this, the first political transac- tion in Erie county, was furnished to the Buffalo Historical Society by the late Amzi Wright, of Attica, who was present. 112 A PRIMITIVK WAV OF VOTING. There was a general turn-out of voters, apparently stimulated by rivalry between the eastern and western parts of the town. The little tavern was soon overrun, and the polls were opened out of doors by Enos Kellogg, one of the commissioners to or- ganize the town. He announced that Peter Vandeventer, the landlord, and Jotham Bemis, of Batavia village, were candidates for supervisor. The worthy commissioner then proceeded to take the vote by a method which, though it amounted to a "division of the house," was in some of its details quite peculiar. He placed the two candidates side by side in the middle of the road, facing southward, Vandeventer on the right and Bemis on the left. "Now," said he, "all you that are in favor of Peter Vandeven- ter for supervisor of the town of Batavia take your places in line on his right, and you that are in favor of Jotham Bemis take your places on his left." The voters obeyed Mr. Kellogg's directions, Bemis' line stretching out along the road to Batavia, and Vandeventer's toward Ikiffalo. The commissioner then counted them, finding seventy-four on Vandeventer's right, and seventy on Bemis' left. Peter Vandeventer was then declared duly elected. A primitive method truly, but there was a poor chance for fraudulent voting. The men from east of Vandeventer's, who were considered as Batavians, then gathered in one cluster, and those from the west, who passed as Buffalonians, in another, and counted up the absentees. As in those times everybody knew everybody else within ten miles of him, this was not difficult. It was found that but four were absent, Batavia way, and but five from the I3uffalo crowd. So the whole number of voters on the Holland Purchase on the ist day of March, 1803, was one hundred and fifty-three, of whom a hundred and forty-four were present at town-meeting. Certainly a most creditable exhibition of attention to political duty. There were probably two or three voters in the vicinity of Fort Niagara who did not attend, but these, although in the town of ]^atavia, were not on the Holland Purchase. The other officers were afterwards elected b}' the uplifted hand. The following is the complete list : Supervisor, Peter Vandeventer ; Town Clerk, David Cully ; THE BIC TREE ROAD. I I 3 Assessors, Enos Kellogg, Asa Ransom, Alexander Rca, Isaac Sutherland, and Suffrenus (or Sylvanus) Maybee ; Overseers of the Poor, David Cully and Benjamin Porter ; Collector, Abel Rowe ; Constables, John Mudge, Levi Felton, Rufus Hart, Abel Rowe, Seymour Kellogg and Hugh Howell; Overseers of High- ways, (pathmasters,)' Martin Middaugh, Timothy S. Hopkins, Orlando Hopkins, Benjamin Morgan, Rufus Hart, Lovell Churchill, Jabez Warren, William Blackman, Samuel Clark, Gideon Dunham, Jonathan Willard, Thomas Layton, Hugh Howell, Benjamin Porter, and William Walsworth. Of these Vandeventer, Cully, Ransom, Maybee, Felton, Timo- thy and Orlando Hopkins, and Middaugh, and perhaps others, were residents of Erie county. At this town-meeting, as at most others in Western New York at that time, one of the most important subjects which claimed the attention of the sovereigns was the wolf-question. An ordinance was passed offering a bounty of five dollars for wolf-scalps, "whelps half price," while half a dollar each was the reward for slaughtered foxes and wild cats. The first State election on the Holland Purchase was also held at Vandeventer's in April following, (in which month elec- tions were then held,) and in that short time the increase of population had been such that a hundred and eighty-nine votes were cast for member of assembly. In June, 1803, Jabez Warren, by contract with Ellicott, sur- veyed the " Middle road" from near Geneseo to Lake Erie. After- wards, during the same summer, he cut it out. It ran nearly due west over hill and dale, keeping a mile south of the south line of the reservation, occasionally diverging a little in case of some extraordinary obstacle. It was called the "Middle road" by the company, but as it started from the Big Tree reservation — that is, the one belong- ing to the band of Indians of which " Big Tree " was chief — it was almost universally called the " Big Tree road " by the in- habitants. Mr. Warren received $2.50 per mile for surveying it, and $10.00 for cutting it out. The latter seems astonishingly cheap, but "cutting out" a road on the Holland Purchase meant merely cutting away the underbrush and small trees from a 114 BUFFALO SURVKVKD. .space a rod wide, leaving the large trees standing, making a track barely passable for a wagon. This year, too, the first ship was built in the county by Ameri- cans. It was the schooner " Contractor," built by a company having the contracts for supplying the western military posts, under the superintendence of Captain William Lee, who sailed the schooner for six years. In this year the village of New Amsterdam was surveyed, (though not completed ready for sale,) by William Peacock. It gives a most vivid idea of what remarkable changes may occur in a single life to learn that the man who did that work in 1803, who ran the very first street-line in the city of Buffalo, is still liv- ing. From a very early period Mr. Peacock has been a citizen of Chautauqua county, of which he has been a judge, and now re- sides at Mayville, at the age of ninety-six. His life completely spans the space between the forest and the emporium. As laid out, the village extended on the west to the State reservation before described ; north to an east and west line nearly coincident with Virginia street, and east to a north and south line running along or very close to the present Jefferson street. Near the creek the reservation was for a short distance the southeast boundary of the village. About an eighth of this tract was cut up into " inner lots," generally about four rods and a half wide, intended for commer- cial purposes, while the rest were divided into "outer lots" of several acres each, suited for suburban residences. The inner-lot tract was bounded west and southwest by the State reservation and the Terrace, south by Little Buffalo creek, (now Hamburg street canal,) east by PLlIicott street, (except where outer lot 104 came to Main street,) and north b}^ Chip- pewa street. In these descriptions I have used the present names of streets in order to give a clearer idea of the localities. Originally, how- ever, the names were almost all different. Ellicott determined to compliment his employers of the Holland Company to the best of his ability, and also the Iroquois preoccupants of the land. !\Iain street, as far up as Church, was called Willink avenue, while above Church it was Van Staphorst avenue. Niagara STRKKT NAMES. II5 street was Scliimmelpcnninck axcnue, Erie street Vollenhoven avenue, Court street Cazenove avxMiue, Church street Stadnitzki avenue, and Genesee street Busti avenue. Sitjnor Paul Busti, ElHcott's immediate superior, and his predecessor, Theophilus Cazenove, were both doubly honored, as, in addition to their re- spective avenues, the Terrace above Erie street was called Busti terrace, and below it Cazenove terrace. (Ellicott also pro- posed to call the village of Batavia " Bustiville," but the genera! agent himself forbade this as " too ferocious.") The Indians were as amply honored as the Hollanders, though in their case the designations were taken from tribes in- stead of individuals. What is now Ellicott street was then Oneida street. Washington street was Onondaga, Pearl was Cayuga, Franklin was Tuscarora, while Morgan street rejoiced in the terrible designation of Missisauga. Delaware, Huron, Mohawk, Eagle, Swan and Seneca streets received their present names, but Exchange was then called Crow street, in honor of John Crow, who had taken the place of John Palmer as the only hotel-keeper. His tavern, part log and and part frame, was just east of the site of the Mansion House. In its numerous diagonal streets, all radiating from a common point, Buffalo bears a strong resemblance to Washington, which Ellicott had helped his brother to survey, and it is to be pre- sumed the later plan was adopted from the former one, whether originating with Joseph Ellicott or his brother Andrew. North Division and South Division streets had no existence in the original plan. Between Swan and Eagle, fronting on Main and running back about a mile, was "Outer Lot 104," contain- ing one hundred acres. This Mr. Ellicott reserved for himself He evidently intended to be the principal personage in the city he was designing. Neither Onondaga nor Oneida street was allowed to cross the sacred soil of Lot 104, though both were laid out north of it, and Oneida south. Even the grand Willink-Van Staphorst ave- nue deviated from its course for the benefit of Lot 104. At the intersection of Stadnitzki avenue, the great central street de- scribed a small semi-circle, with a radius of several rods, curving to the westward over the open ground before " the churches," leaving Lot 104 with something like a bay-window on its front. ii6 ellicott's grand design. Here Mr. I-LUicott intended to erect a palatial residence, in the center of the city he had founded, with broad vistas open- ing before it in every possible direction. Up Van Staphorst avenue to the suburban hillside on the north, up Schimmelpenninck avenue to the elegant residences which were to cluster around Niagara square, along Stadnitzki avenue to the State reservation, down Willink avenue to the harbor, and especially down Vollenhoven avenue to the lake, the eye of the magnate of New Amsterdam was to roam at will, seeing everywhere the prosperity of the city which owed its ex- istence to his sagacity. If a somewhat selfish, it was certainly a magnificent conception. It is said, also, to have been his declared intention, after occu- pying it during his life, to devise the whole to the city for a per- manent park and museum. The circumstances which prevented the realization of this idea will be mentioned in due time. David Reese, a blacksmith long well knowai by the early res- idents, came to Buffalo in 1803, and John Despar, a French baker, about the same time. A much more important acquisition was Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, who, though he had failed in his attempt to become the princi- pal owner of Buffalo, manifested his faith in the location, in 1803, by moving thither with his family. Being unable to obtain a house, he took them over the river, where they remained two years before one was secured. Meanwhile the doctor prac- ticed on both sides, being, so far as known, the first physician who did practice in Erie county. For twelve years no man exercised a greater influence in the village of Buffalo than Dr. Chapin ; perhaps none as great. He was of that type which naturally succeeds in a new country ; bold, resolute and energetic to the last degree, generous and free-hearted with his fellows, but often reckless alike of the con- ventionalities of society and of the consequences of his acts. Self-confident and self-willed, he was always sure he was right, and was consequently always ready to go ahead. Like most men of that stamp, he had many warm friends and some bitt&r enemies, but through all the vicissitudes of his career he re- tained the confidence of a majority of his neighbors and acquaintances. CIIAPIN AND GRANGER. 11/ On his arrival in Buffalo he was a robust, broad-shouldered man of thirty, recently married, overflowing with physical and mental vigor. In his politics, as in everything else, he was a violent partisan, and his Federalism was of the most rampant description. Another important arrival of that year was an equally decided if not so violent a Democrat — or Republican, for the anti-federal of that day was called by both names. This was Erastus Gran- ger, a young widower from New England, and a cousin of Gid- eon Granger, then postmaster-general under President Jefferson. He was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, and soon afterwards postmaster, and appears to have been intrusted with the management of the politics of this section on behalf of the administration. Though New Amsterdam was not yet ready for sale, the ad- joining land in that township was, and among the purchasers in it I find the names of Cyrenius Chapin, William Desha, Samuel Tupper, Joseph Wells and James S. Young. The prices ranged from $3.50 to $5.00 per acre. At this period a Major Perry had made an opening at the point where Main street crosses Scajaquada (or Conjockety) creek. Near its mouth was the Indian family of Conjockety. An anecdote related to me by Mr. William Hodge shows that, whatever jests may be passed upon the " noble red man," he certainly does sometimes display great coolness and courage. On arising one winter morning, Major Perry found that one of his hogs had been killed, and either eaten or carried off Seeing the snow around well marked with panther's tracks, he of course concluded that one of those animals had been the de- stroyer. He sent for Philip Conjockety, whom I suppose to have been a son of old " Skendyoughwatti," mentioned by Mr. Kirkland. Conjockety came and took the trail. For awhile he supposed that there was but one animal, so closely did the footsteps follow each other, but at length he saw where two panthers had gone, one on each side of a tree. This rather startled him, but he concluded to go forward. Shortly afterwards he came upon one of the marauders, seated among the topmost branches of a tree, eating a piece of the captured hog. Lifting his rifle, Conjockety shot the animal dead. Il8 COXJOCKKTV'S EXI'LOIT. The other was not then in sight, but the Indian instantly re- loaded and stepped cautiously forward. In a moment more he was confronted by the angry beast, on the point of springing upon him. Again taking rapid aim, he fired as the panther was in the very act of leaping, and the next instant the slain animal fell at the feet of the intrepid hunter. " Ugh ! " exclaimed Conjockety, as he recounted the tale, " some scare me ! " Of course the Indian told his own story, but he had the two panthers to show for it. In township 12, range 7, (Amherst,) sales were made that fall to Samuel Kel.sy, Henry Lake, Benjamin Gardner, William Lewis and others, the price being put as high as $3.25 and $3.50 per acre. Settlements commenced immediately after- wards. This year too, I find the names of Samuel Beard, William Chapin, Asahel Powers, Jacob Durham and Samuel Edsall, re- corded as purchasers in Newstead, and of Andrew Dummett, Julius Keyes, Lemuel Harding, Jacob Shope, Zerah Ensign and others in Clarence. All these settlements were in the townships through which the "Buffalo road" ran. But the hardy pioneers soon bore far- ther south in their search for land. In November, 1803, Alan- son Eggleston became the first purchaser in township Eleven, range Six (now Lancaster). There the land was put down to $2 per acre. Amos Woodward and William Sheldon also bought in Lancaster that month. All these were north of the Buffalo Creek reservation, which cut the present county of Eric completely in twain. Several townships, however, were surveyed south of the reservation that year, and in the fall adventurous land-hunters found theij- way into the valley of Eighteen-Mile creek. On the 3d of October, Didymus C. Kinney purchased part of lot Thirty-three, township Nine, range Seven, being now the south- west corner lot of the town of East Hamburg. He immediate- ly built him a cabin, and lived there with his family during the winter, being unquestionably the earliest pioneer of all Erie county, south of the reservation. Records and recollections agree on this point. A BEGINNING IN THE SOUTH TOWNS. I I9 Cotton Fletcher, who had surveyed the southern townships, purchased land in the same township as Kinney, but did not locate there till later ; neither did John Cummings, who took up the mill-site a mile and a half below Water Valley. In November, 1803, too, Charles and Oliver Johnson, two brothers, made a purchase in the present town of Boston, near the village of Boston Center. Samuel Eaton bought farther down the creek. The price was $2.25 per acre. Charles, with his family, lived with Kinney through the winter, and moved on to his OAvn place the next spring. The Indians were frequently a resource of the early settlers who ran short of food. Charles Johnson, w'hile at Kinney's, went to the Seneca village and bought six bushels of corn. He had snow-shoes for locomotion and a hand-sled for transporta- tion. As a load of three hundred and forty pounds sank the sled too far into the deep snow, he slung part of it on his back, and thus weighted and freighted he trudged through the forest to his home. The snow-shoe was an important institution of that era. It consisted of a light, wooden frame, about two and a half feet long and fifteen inches wide, with bars across it, the intervening spaces being filled with tightly stretched green hide. With a pair of such articles strapped to his feet, the hunter or traveler strode defiantly over the deepest drifts, into which, without their support, he would have sunk to his Waist at every step. Strange as it may seem, too, old hunters declare that these forest gun- boats did not seriously impede locomotion, and that the accus- tomed wearer could travel from three to four miles an hour with- out difficulty. Kinney and Johnson with their fam-ilies, in that solitary cabin in the valley of the Eighteen-Mile, were the only residents of Erie county south of the reservation in the winter of 1803-4. I20 WILLIXK AND KRIE. CHAPTER XVI. 1804 AND 1805. Division of B.itavia.— Willink.— Erie. — Settlement of Boston. — An Ancient Fort. — Ezekiel Smith.— David Eddy.— A Bride of 1804.— Aurora.— Jabez War- ren.— Joel Adams. — A Hand-sled Journey. — Lancaster. — Le Couteulx. — A Strange Object.— The Pratt Family. — A Contest of Courtesy. — First Post Office.— Organization of Willink.— Erie Town-Book. — A Primitive Mill.— Deacon Cary. — William Warren. — First Grist Mill. — Williamsville. Tlie year 1 804 was marked by a more decided advance than any previous one. Turning first to municipal matters, we find that the town- meeting for Batavia w^as again held at Peter Vandeventer's, and that popular landlord was again chosen supervisor. But at that session of the legislature a law was passed, (to take effect the next February,) dividing Batavia into four towns. The easternmost was Batavia, consisting of the first, second and third ranges of the Holland Purchase. Next came Willink, containing the fourth, fifth and sixth ranges. Then Erie, com- prising the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth ranges, the State reservation and the adjacent waters. The rest of the Purchase constituted the town of Chautauqua. It will be seen that Willink, as thus organized, was eighteen miles wide and just about a hundred miles long, extending from Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania. It contained one range of town- ships east of Erie county, the eastern parts of Niagara and Cattaraugus counties, and the present towns of Clarence, New- stead, Lancaster, Alden, Elma, Marilla, Aurora, Wales, Colden, Holland, Sardinia and part of Concord. The West Transit was the line between Willink and " Erie," which last town also stretched the whole width of the State. At its southern end it was twenty-four miles wide, but it was narrowed by the lake and the Canadian boundary, so that its northern half was only from eight to twenty miles wide. It comprised one short range of townships in Chautauqua county. OLD FORT IN BOSTON. 12 1 the western part of Niagara and Cattaraugus, and in Eric county the city of Buffalo and the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda, Amherst, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Hamburg, East Ham- burg, Evans, Eden, Boston, Brant, North Collins, Collins, and the west part of Concord. This town of Erie has had a somewhat curious history, having been completely obliterated not only from the list of political organizations, but from the memories of its own oldest inhabi- tants. The story of its early annihilation will be told in due time. Next to East Hamburg, Boston was the first town settled south of the reservation. In March, 1804, Charles Johnson, having erected a cabin, left his friend Kinney's and moved four miles farther into the wilderness. His brother Oliver, Samuel Eaton and Samuel Beebe followed a little later. The Johnsons and some of their neighbors had less trouble clearing their land than most settlers in the south towns. Where they located, close to Boston Center, there was a prairie of fifty acres. Close by there was another which occupied thirty acres except a few trees, and there were some smaller ones. In the thirty-acre one there was an old fort, enclosing a space of about two and a half acres. It consisted of an embankment which even then was two feet high, with a ditch on the outside nearly two feet deep. There were a few trees growing on the embank- ment, one of them being a chestnut from two to two and a half feet in diameter. From this fort there was a narrow artificial road running southwest nearly to Hamburg village. On dry ground little work had been done, but on wet land the evidences that a road had been made were plain for a long time. From Hamburg village to the lake there is a narrow natural ridge, suitable for a road, and on which one is actually laid out, called the " Ridge road." It looks as if some band of Indians, (or of some other race,) had preferred to reside on the lake shore for pleasure and conven- ience, but had constructed this fortress between the hills, with a road leading to it, as a place of safety from their foes. In this vicinity, as elsewhere throughout the county, were found large numbers of sharpened flint-stones, with which it was sup- 9 I 22 A BRIDE OF 1804. posed the Indians skinned deer. The largest were six or seven inches long and two inches broad, the sides being oval and the edges sharpened. If the Indians had ever used them, as seems probable, they had thrown them aside as soon as knives were brought among them by the Europeans. I think that John Cummings located himself this spring on his land below Water Valley, becoming the first settler in the present town of Hamburg. That same spring Deacon Ezekiel Smith came from Vermont, with his two sons, Richard and Daniel, and bought a tract of land two miles southeast of Kinney's, in what has since been known as the Newton neighborhood. A young man named David Eddy came with him and selected land near Potter's Corners. Smith returned for his family, leaving his sons to clear land. In September he came back, with his wife, several daughters, and two or three others, and five more sons, Amasa, Ezekiel, Zenas, Amiah and Almon. Such a family was of itself enough to start a pretty good settlement. Four of the seven sons were married. With them came another big Vermont famil}', headed by Amos Colvin, with his sons Jacob, George, Luther, Amos and Isaac. One of Deacon Smith's daughters, Sarah, was then a bride of seventeen, the wife of Jacob Colvin. She is still living, at the age of eighty-nine, and well-known throughout East Hamburg as "Aunt Sarah Colvin." When I saw her in the summer of 1875, she was perfectly erect, active about the house, and showed less of the marks of age than most women of seventy. More than the allotted span of man's life has passed away since she came, a married woman, into the wilderness ; she has seen the wolves and bears prowling around the cabins of the earliest set- tlers ; she has seen the forest give place to broad ,and fertile fields ; she passed, more than sixty years ago, through the alarms of border war, and still remains a remarkable example of the vigorous pioneer women of Erie county. With the same colony came David Eddy, his brother Aaron, and his brother-in-law Nathan Peters, with his sister Mary as housekeeper. Mrs. Colvin in describing the journey mentions that IVIary Eddy, a young woman of some education, and a SETTLEMENT OF AURORA. 1 23 pioneer school-teacher in both Hamburg and Aurora, walked every step of the way from Buffalo to Kinney's place on the Eighteen-Mile. The Eddys went to the land selected by David near I'2ast Hamburg village, and were the first settlers in that vicinity. John Sumner moved there that year or the next. Obadiah Baker bought there that year, and soon became a permanent resident. In June, 1804, Joel Harvey located at the mouth of the Eight- een-Mile on the west side, being the first settler in the present town of Evans, and the farthest one up the lake in the county of Erie. Meanwhile another settlement had been commenced farther east. Jabez Warren, when cutting out the Big Tree road, must have been extremely well pleased with the land about /\urora, for on the 17th of April, 1804, he took a contract for four entire lots, comprising the greater part of the site of the village of East Aurora, and a large territory adjoining it on the north and west. The tract contained 1,743 acres, being the largest amount purchased in the county by one person at any one time. The price was $2 per acre. The same day Nathaniel Emerson, Henry Godfrey, (a son-in- law of Warren,) Nathaniel Walker, John Adams and Joel Adams took contracts covering the whole creek valley, for three miles above East /\urora, at $1.50 per acre. This was the cheapest that any land was sold in the county, though it included some of the best. In May Rufus and Taber Earl located in the southeast cor- ner of East Aurora village. Joseph Sears is said to have pur- chased lot 23, since known as "The Square," but though he afterward settled on it he remained but a short time. Four or five other persons made purchases during the summer, but out of the whole list, though most of them became perma- nent residents, only one, Joel Adams, remained with his family through the winter. Taber Earl, however, built him a house and moved into it immediately after buying his land. His wife was the pioneer woman in the county, south of the reservation and east of the West Transit. But Earl with his family win- tered in Buffalo. 124 A HAND-SLED JOURNEY. Warren cleared a small space and built him a log house at the west end of East Aurora, but did not occupy it that year. Joel Adams, already a middle-aged man, built him a cabin on his land, where he worked alone through the summer. In the fall he brought on his family, except the oldest son. Besides him there were five hardy boys. On his way Mr. Adams was obliged to leave a bag of meal at a mill near Warsaw, the hor- rible roads being impassable for any but the lightest loads. In the winter the family ran out of breadstufifs. Thereupon the two oldest boys set out on foot after that bag of meal, twenty-five miles away. They secured the prize and brought it through in safety on a hand-sled, though the necessary slowness of their progress compelled them to sleep out one or two nights in the snow. Such were the tasks of the youth of that period. Hardship, however, does not seem to have had any deleterious effects on the Adams boys, for three of them, Enos, Luther and Erasmus, lived to extreme old age, being well known to all citizens of Aurora. Erasmus, the youngest, still survives at the age of eighty-five, one of the most active men in town. On going to see him, a year ago, to get some reminiscences of his early life, I found he had taken a walk for exercise to a friend's some three miles distant ; so I was obliged to postpone the interview. In connection with the first settlement of Aurora, it may be noted that there, as in so many other places, were found indica- tions of ancient occupancy. A little north of the village of East Aurora, and close to the north line of the town, are sev- eral abrupt hills, almost surrounded by muddy ponds and by low grounds once undoubtedly covered wuth water. Two of these hills, thus conveniently situated for defense, were found fortified ,by circular breastworks, resembling those in Boston. There is also a tradition of bones of "giant size" being dug up there at an early day, but I am somewhat skeptical, not as to the bones, but the size. Exaggeration is extremely easy where there is no exact, scientific measurement. Silas Hill, John Felton, Thomas Hill, Charles Bennett, Cyrus Hopkins and others were added to the list of purchasers in Newstead this year, and all of those named became permanent settlers. SETTLERS IN THE NORTH TO\YNS. 1 25 In Clarence, there were David Bailey, Peter Pratt, Isaac Van- ornian, Daniel Robinson, Riley Hunger, David Hamlin, Jr., and others. It was probably in 1804 that Asa Ransom built a saw- mill on the little stream to which his name had been given. Timothy S. and Orlando Hopkins removed to what is now Amherst this year, and among the new comers in that township were Samuel McConnell, who located near Williamsville, Caleb Rogers, Stephen Colvin, Jacob Vanatta, and Joel Chamberlain. Occasional German names will have been seen among the emigrants to the north towns. These, however, were all " Penn- •sylvania Germans," or " Mohawk Dutch ;" that is, persons of Ger- man or Dutch descent, whose families had been established in Pennsylvania or the Mohawk Valley for two or more genera- tions. There was not then a solitary emigrant directly from Ger- many in the county, nor for a long time afterwards. Among the purchasers in Lancaster in 1804 were James Woodward, Warren Hull, Matthew Wing, Joel Parmalee and Lawson Egberton. Mr. James Clark, of Lancaster, states that he has ascertained that James and Amos Woodward were the first settlers in Lancaster, locating at Bowman's Mills, and it was probably in 1804 that they came. Hull, Eggleston, James and Luther Young, and Parmalee, all settled east of Bowman's Mills shortly after the Woodwards. In Buffalo there was a decided development during the year 1804, and several men who exercised a strong influence for many years then became residents. One of these was Mr. LeCouteulx, whose full appellation was Louis Stephen Le Couteulx de Caumont, a French gentleman of good family, then forty-eight years of age, who had for sev- enteen years been a citizen of the United States. A gentle and genial spirit, his placid face, mild blue eyes, gray hair carefully parted in the middle, neat dress and precise manners seemed somewhat out of place amid the stumps, Indians and frontiers- men of New Amsterdam, yet his aimiability and integrity gained him many friends, and his good business habits procured him reasonable success, and in his old age even affluence. Soon after his arrival he built him a frame house on Crow (Exchange) street, near Willink avenue, where he resided, and in one part of which he established a drug-store, the first in the county. 126 BUFFALO PRICES. Some of the Buffalo land was as cheap as any in the county. N. W. Sever bought two outer lots containing sixty-four acres in the bend of the creek, south of the Ohio basin, for $1.8 1 per acre. What is more remarkable, outer lot 84, comprising several acres between Willink avenue and Buffalo creek, (that is to say west of Main street,) now occupied by Central Wharf and long rows of warehouses, was sold in 1804 to Samuel McConnell for $1.50 per acre ! Sanguine as were Ellicott's ideas regarding the future of Buffalo, he supposed that the business would all be done north of the hill at Exchange street, and in one letter ex- pressed his belief that the flats below would, when drained, make excellent meadows ! Inner lots, near the corner of Willink avenue and Crow street, which was the centre of business, sold at one hundred to two hundred dollars each. Payments of $10 to $30 in hand were usually made, the rest being distributed through several install- ments. Merchant Maybee paid $135 for Lot 35, corner of Wil- link avenue and Seneca street, running through to Cayuga. He paid $15 down, $12 the next year, and then pa)-ment was stop- ped till 181 5, when some one else took a deed. Great care was taken to encourage actual settlers, and when Zerah Phelps bought inner lot No. i, lying just east of the site of the Mansion House, he had to agree to build a house twenty- four feet square, and clear off half an acre of land. Similar agreements were made with other city purchasers. Outside the village limits, but within the present city, Rowland Cotton bought a hundred and forty-three acres at what is now the corner of Main and Amherst streets, for $3.50 an acre. Abner Gilbert took lot Thirty-four, now the southeast corner of Main and Utica streets, for five dollars an acre. There was an Abner Gilbert in the family whose. captivity I have before related, and it is quite possible that he returned to inhabit the scene of his early hardships, though there is no evidence of it but the name. He certainly did not remain long. In accordance with the previous arrangement with Ellicott, though apparently it was somewhat modified. William Johnston received a deed of several valuable inner lots, and of outer lot 93, comprising forty acres south of Crow and east of Onondaga (Washington) streets. A STRANGE OBJECT. 127 One day in September, 1804, a hitherto unknown i^henome- non came slowly swaying down Willink avenue, picking its way among the stumps, and curving around the hillocks in that primeval thoroughfare. It was a carriage — a private carriage — the first one ever seen in Erie county, and probably the first that ever crossed the Genesee. It was a most luxurious vehicle, ac- cording to the ideas of that day, new and strongly built, its drab- colored sides splashed with the mud of numberless mudholes through which it had passed since leaving the far-off State of Vermont. As it wended its tedious course down the wide highway now bordered by lofty blocks and palatial residences, we may be sure that from the few log cabins and diminutive frames on either side every head was thrust forth in scrutinizing wonder, while the red men who were ever strolling about the village uttered their " Ughs " with more than ordinary emphasis, as they gazed on this novel institution of the pale-faces. From the carriage win- dows peered the equally curious faces of several children, gazing with wide-open eyes at the strange scenes on either side, while behind them appeared a woman's thoughtful, perhaps saddened, features. One or two open wagons followed, containing some of the male members of the new family and an ample supply of furniture. The vehicles turned into Crow street, and halted before John Crow's log-and-frame mansion. The family which then alighted was one whose members and descendants have ever since, in successive generations, been prominent in the social and com- mercial history of Buffalo, that of Captain Samuel Pratt. While on his way to and from Detroit, on a fur-buying trip, in 1802-3, Captain P. had been so strongly impressed with the commercial advantages of the little log village at the foot of Lake Erie that he determined to locate there, and engage in the fur-trade. As he had reached the age of forty, had a large family and was possessed of a comfortable property, his eastern friends thought his proposed removal little less than lunacy. He, however, persevered, had a carriage built on purpose, so that his family might be as comfortable as possible on their long- journey, and in due time they drew up before Crow's tavern. As they did so they were met by Erastus Granger, the super- 128 A CONTEST OF COURTESY, intendent of Indian affairs, who greeted the captain with the utmost warmth, made his poHtest bows to the lady, and imme- diately placed his room in the tavern at the disposal of the family while awaiting the preparation of their residence. Mr. Pratt was profuse in his thanks for this great kindness, Mr. Granger equally profuse in assurances that lie was the party most honored by the arrangement. The salaams on both sides were numerous and profound. Meanwhile the mother and children peered into the apart- ment over which so much politeness was being expended. They discovered a room some twelve feet square, with rough log walls, a floor of split logs, and a bedstead of poles in the corner. Mrs. Pratt's face grew sad at the dismal prospect, and at least one of the children could hardly keep from laugh- ing over the seeming disproportion between the gentleman's compliments and the subject of them. None the less Mr. Granger's offer was generous and timely, and his apartment was probably the most elegant one in Buffalo. The only survivor of this scene old enough to remember it is Mrs. Esther Pratt Fox, then a girl of six, now a most amiable lady of seventy-eight, who still laughs when she describes the politeness expended over the log room in Crow's tavern. Captain Pratt soon built him a frame house, the first one of any considerable size in the village, and also a store in which he began trading with both Indians and whites. His business, es- pecially with the former, soon became extensive, principally in buying furs, and during all his residence he maintained their unwavering confidence. The only other store in the village, and in fact in the county, at this time, was that of Sylvanus Maybee, unless Vincent Grant already had one. The only other event it is necessary to notice in this year is the establishment of a post-route and post-office. A law was passed in the spring, establishing a route from Canandaigua to P"t. Niagara, byway of Buffalo Creek. In September following- it was put in operation, and Erastus Granger was appointed the first postmaster in Erie county, his office being denominated " Buffalo Creek." Even Congress would not recognize the un- fortunate name of New Amsterdam. WILLINK AND ERIE. 1 29 The new postmaster's duties were not onerous. Once a week a solitary horseman came from Canandaigua, with a pair of sad- dle-bags containing a few letters and a few diminutive news- papers scarcely larger than the letters, and once a week he returned from Fort Niagara with a still smaller literary freight. During 1805 there is no record of any new townships being occupied, but the work of improvement progressed rapidly around the settlements already made. In accordance with the law of the previous year, the towns of Willink and Erie were organized in the spring of 1805. The first town-meeting in Willink was held at Vandeventer's, all the voters being north of the reservation, except Joel Adams in Aurora and Roswell Turner in Sheldon, Wyoming county. The following officers were elected : Supervisor, Peter Vandeventer ; Town Clerk, Zerah Ensign , Assessors, Asa Ransom, Aaron Beard, John J, Brown ; Collec- tor, Levi Felton ; Commissioners of Highways, Gad \^^arner, Charles Wilber, Samuel Hill, Jr. ; Constables, John Dunn, Ju- lius Keyes ; Overseers of the Poor, Henry Ellsworth and Otis Ingalls. The first town-meeting in the town of Erie was held at Crow's tavern, but the record of it was destroyed, with nearly all others pertaining to that town, in 18 13. In fact, notwith- standing the law, it would be difficult to establish the actual, organized existence of such a town, were it not for a rough little memorandum-book, preserved among the treasures of the Buffalo Historical Society. It is marked " Erie Town Book," but it does not show any of the usual town-records ex- cept receipts from licenses to sell liquor. Five of these were recorded in 1805, three being to persons in the present county of Erie and two at Lewiston. There was one in Buffalo to Joshua Gillett, and one to "The Contractors by S. Tupper." There must, however, have been others. Cer- tainly Landlord Crow must have had one. The price of licenses was five dollars each. Orlando Hopkins was collector of the town that year, and the whole general tax was a hundred and fifty dollars. " The Contractor's Store," a somewhat noted institution of that day, was started in the fall of 1804, or spring of 1805, by 130 SUNDRY SKTTLF.RS. the gentlemen who had contracts for supplying the militaiy posts of the West. It was at first in charge of Samuel Tupper, who came to Buffalo about that time, and may have been one of the contractors. The fact that he was appointed a judge of Genesee county in the fall goes to show that he was not a mere clerk. He was the first person within the limits of Erie county who had a right to the appellation of judge. There have been a good many since. About the same time, Zenas Barker began keeping on the Terrace a rival tavern to Crow's. At the fall term of the Court of Common Pleas, both Crow and Barker were licensed to keep ferries across Buffalo creek ; the former at the mouth and the latter at what was afterwards known as the Pratt ferry. Another new-comer was William Hodge, a most energetic young man, only twenty-three years of age, but having already a wife and two children, one of whom, then five months old, was W'illiam Hodge, Jr., now a venerable and highly respected citizen of Buffalo. Mr. H. soon established himself on lot 35, now corner of ]Main and Utica streets, remaining in that vicinity throughout his life. Besides the two Buffalo liquor-licenses recorded in 1805, there was one to Nathaniel Titus, who in that year opened a tavern at the bend of the lake, in what is now Hamburg. His place was afterwards long known as the Barker stand. Among other settlers in Hamburg, Abner Amsden located himself on the lake shore, four miles above Titus, where his son Abner still lives. The latter, then eleven years old, is now eighty-two. I found him last year two or three miles from home, and so busy getting a load of lumber that he could not stop to talk much. He said, however, that he had lived on that same farm seventy years, and the longer he lived on it the better he liked it. "You can't wear the country out." said the old gentleman, "if you farm it right ; " and he has certainly tried it long enough to know. Jotham Bemis, (or "old Captain Bemis" as he was called,) Vandeventer's opponent in the middle-of-the-road contest for the supcrvi.sor.ship, purchased land in Hamburg in 1805, and then or soon after located himself near the site of Abbott's Corners. IMvI.MiriVK .MILLS. I31 Tyler Sackett, Russell Goodrich, Rufus Bcldcn, Abel Buck, Gideon Dudley, Samuel P. Hibbard, King Root, Winslow Perry and others came about the same time or a little later. In East Hamburg, Jacob Eddy, (father of David) and Asa Sprague settled near Potter's Corners. Among other immi- grants were William Coltrin, Samuel Knapp and Joseph Sheldon. The "Friend" or Quaker element began to center about Potter's Corners, giving to that locality characteristics which it has ever since to some extent retained In 1805, Daniel Smith, son of Deacon Ezekiel, put up a rude mill, for grinding corn only, on a little stream since called Hoag's Brook, two miles southwest of Potter's Corners. It was a log building about eighteen feet square, with wood gearing, and would grind five or six bushels a day. David Eddy also built a saw-mill for the Indians, by contract with superintendent Granger, on Cazenove creek, near what is now "Lower Ebenezer." It furnished the first boards for the inhabitants of the south towns. The cranks, saws, etc., had to be transported from Albany. The same enterprising pioneer raised nearly a thousand bushels of corn in his first crop, having prepared the ground by chopping down the trees and burning the tops, leaving the bodies on the ground. To Boston, in 1805, came "Deacon Richard Cary, a godly sol- dier of the Revolution, who had shared the hardships of the northern army in its vain but gallant adventure against Quebec, and had followed the footsteps of Washington through the ter- rible campaigns of the Jerseys. The extreme poverty of the pioneers of the Holland Purchase has been the theme of frequent description, and I think their descendants are somewhat proud of it — or, rather, proud of their surmounting such difficulties. There were so many cases of men bringing their families to their new homes on ox-sleds, and arriving with from fifty cents to five dollars each, that I can not mention the half of them. Deacon Cary, however, is fairly entitled to special notice in this respect, for when he reached the valley of the Eighteen-Mile he had just three cents in his pocket and was two dollars in debt. A sick wife and eight children explain the condition of his finances. To shelter these ten persons there was a log cabin twelve feet 132 WILLIAM WARREN. square, with a one-slope roof, in which a blanket served as a door, and a piece of factory cloth stretched over a hole did duty for a window. The Johnsons and Cary all took their first crops of wheat to be ground at Chippewa, full forty miles distant. In Aurora there was a considerable influx of emigration. Jabez Warren moved his family thither in March (on an ox-sled of course) ; Emerson and Godfrey came with him. Taber Earl came back from Buffalo, Thomas Tracy and Humphrey Smith, purchasers of the previous year, occupied their lands, and settle- ment in Aurora was fairly under way. The price of land was two dollars per acre. Jabez Warren's oldest son, William, who, though not twenty- one till the July following, had been married two years, also came, received a part of the tract entered by his father, and made a clearing at the east end of East Aurora village ; cutting down the soft maples and basswoods, but only girdling the harder trees. In August he had five acres thus cleared, four of which he sowed to wheat, and in telling the story he adds : "I got bouncing wheat." He then brought his family, making the seventh in that township. William Warren, since better known as General Warren, was a smooth-faced, good-looking youth, of amiable disposition and pleasant manners, who would not have been picked out from his appearance as peculiarly adapted to endure the hardships of frontier life. Yet he has survived them all, and still remains in reasonably good health, at the age of ninety-two, to tell the story of his remarkable career. Until a few years since he con- tinued to dwell at East Aurora, but has latterly resided at Knowlcsville, Orleans county. The future general had an early predeliction for military affairs, had been an "ensign" of militia at his former home, and immediately after his arrival in Erie county was commis- sioned as captain. His district embraced all the south i)art of Erie and Wyoming counties. With his commission came an order to call his company together for organization. He did so and nine men responded. In Newstead Archibald S. Clarke purchased, and soon settled, on the Buffalo road, about a mile and a half southwest of Akron, becoming ere long one of the most prominent citizens of the WILLIAMSVILLE. 1 33 county. Aaron Dolph came about the same time, and among other names of immigrants of that period are John Beamer, Eli Hammond, Sahnon and George SparHng, and Henry Russell. Among other settlers in Clarence in 1805, were Thomas Clark, Edmund Thompson and David Hamlin, Sr. His son Lindsay Hamlin, then eleven, is one of the earliest surviving residents of Clarence. He thinks that when he came in 1805 Asa Ran- som had both a saw-mill and a grist-mill. If so the latter must have been built as early as 1S04. Other data fix the year at 1805. At all events it was the first mill for grinding wheat in the county, and was for several years the sole resort of the settlers north of the reservation. Mr. Hamlin states that when he came the "openings" occupied half the space for four miles west and south of Clarence Hol- low, and along the Lancaster line. They were small prairies of a few acres each, surrounded by oak and pine. They were very productive, and the settlers used to raise from sixty to eighty bushels of corn per acre. The names of John Hersey, Alexander Logan, and John King appear as purchasers in Amherst this year. One of the events of the season there was the opening of a tavern by Elias Ransom, three miles west of Williamsville, and another was the marriage of Timothy S. Hopkins in the log house built by Thompson four years before, which has now become the venerable clapboarded, dun-colored "Evans house." A more important event was the advent of Jonas Williams. He had been a clerk in the land-office, and when on his way to Chautauqua county on business for the company had been cap- tivated by the grand water-power on EUicott's creek. He bought the land and the abandoned mill, of Thompson, and in the spring of 1805 began to rebuild the mill, becoming the founder of the village which still bears his name. 134 POOR rioNKKKS. CHAPTER XVII. PIONEERING. Poverty. — An Aristocratic Mansion. — A Horse Bedstead. — Oxen. — A Raising. — Clearing Land. — The Logging Bee. — The Rail Fence. I have now shown the general course of events, as accurately as I could, down to a time when settlement had got pretty well started in Erie county. Still everything was in the rudest form, and the daily lives of the settlers was of the very hardest de- scription. Whenever there was something peculiar in any of the numer- ous stories of pioneer experience which I have read or listened to, I have narrated it, and shall do so hereafter. It would, how- ever, have been entirely impracticable to publish each individual experience, or the ordinary events in each town, because so many of them were closely similar to each other. There would have been twenty-five town histories all very much alike. The ob- ject of this chapter is to consolidate these numerous accounts, and give a general idea of what pioneering was in Erie county in its earliest stages. In the first place, it may be said roundly that all the early settlers of this county, as of the whole Holland Purchase, were extremely poor. The exceptions were of the rarest. Over and over again Mr. Ellicott mentions, in his letters to the general agent, the absolute necessity of making sales with little or no advance payment. Over and over again we find men bu}ing from one to two hundred acres, the amount paid down being twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars, and even a smaller sum. When we sec Sylvanus Maybee, the Buffalo merchant, paying but $15 down for a village lot, twelve dollars the next year, and then failing to pay altogether ; when we find Erastus Granger, superintendent of Indian affairs and post-master of Buffalo, sleeping on a pole bedstead, with a puncheon floor to his room, we can imagine the condition of the general run of settlers. There was not, at the end of 1805, a grist mill in the county. •A HORSE liEDSTEAU. 1 35 except Asa Ransom's, which was small and poorly supplied with water. There was no saw mill south of the reservation, and but two or three north of it. Except a few little buildings in Buf- falo, there was not a frame house in the county. The structures under which the earliest settlers sheltered themselves and their families hardly rose even to the dignity of log houses. They were frequently mere cabins of small logs, (there not being help enough to handle large ones,) covered with bark. Sometimes there was a floor of split logs, or " puncheon.s," sometimes none. A log house sixteen feet square, with a shingle roof, a board floor, and a w^indow containing six lights of glass, was a decid- edly stylish residence, and its owner was in some danger of being disliked as a bloated aristocrat. The furniture was as primitive as the houses. Sometimes a feather-bed was brought on an ox-cart to the new home, some- times not. Bedsteads were still rarer, and chairs pertained only to the higher classes. Substitutes for the latter were made by splitting a slab out of a log, boring four holes in the corners, and inserting four legs hewed out of the same tree. A bedstead was almost as easily constructed. Two poles were cut, one about six feet long and the other three. One end of each was inserted in an auger-hole, bored in a log at the proper distance from the corner of the house ; the other ends were fastened to a post which formed the corner of the struc- ture. Other poles were fastened along the logs, and the frame was complete. Then, if the family was well off and owned a bed cord, it \\as strung upon the poles ; if not, its place was supplied b}' strips of bark from the nearest trees. This was called by some a "horse bedstead," and by some a "Holland Purchase bed- stead." Usually the emigrant brought a small stock of provisions with him, for food he knew he must have. These, however, were frequently exhausted before he could raise a supply. Then he had to depend on the precarious resource of wild game, or on what his labor could obtain from his scarcely more fortunate neighbors. Even after a crop of corn had been raised, there still re- mained the extreme difficulty of getting it ground. But in 136 "THE PLUMPIN'G MILL," ETC. this case, as in so many others, necessity was the mother of in- vention. A fire being built in the top of a stump, a hollow of the size of a half-bushel basket would be burned out and then scraped "clean. Then the pioneer would hew out a rude wooden pestle, fasten it to a " spring-pole," and secure the latter to a neighboring tree. With this primeval grist-mill corn could be reduced to a coarse meal. When there were several families in a neighborhood, one such machine would serve them all. It was sometimes called a "plumping mill." Another way was to flatten a beech log, hollow it out, fit a block into the hollow and turn the block with a lever. The clothes of both men and women for the first few years were such as they brought from their former homes. If these were plentiful, the owners were comfortable; if scanty, they were patched till their original material was lost beneath the over- lying amendments. When the emigrant was unmarried, he frequently came on foot and alone, with only an axe on his shoulder, selected a lo- cation miles away from the nearest settler, put him up the rudest kind of a cabin, and for awhile kept bachelor's hall, occa- sionally visiting some friendly matron to have his bread baked or his clothes repaired. When a family came it was almost invariably behind a yoke of oxen. These patient animals were the universal resource of the first pioneers of Western New York. Cheap, hardy, and far better adapted than horses to the terrible roads of those days, they possessed the further advantage of being always transmissible into beef, in case of accident to them or scarcity in the family. During the first few years of its settlement, prob- ably not one family in ten came into Erie county with a span of horses. New-comers were always warmly welcomed by their prede- cessors, partly doubtless from native kindness, and partly because each new arrival helped to redeem the forest from its forbidding loneliness, and added to the value of improvements already made. If there were already a few settlers in the locality, the emi- grant's family w^as sheltered by one of them until notice could be given to all around of a house-raising on a specified day. On that day, perhaps only a dozen men would be collected from as ■ A HOUSE-RAISING. I 3/ many square miles, bat all of them able to handle their axes as easily as the deftest clerk flourishes his pen. Suitable trees had already been felled, and logs cut, from twelve to sixteen feet long according to the wealth and preten- sions of the builder. These were drawn by oxen to the desired point, and four of the largest selected as a foundation. Four of the most active and expert men were designated to build the corners. They began by cutting a kind of saddle at the ends of two of the logs ; a space about a foot long being shaped like the roof of a house. Notches to fit these saddles were cut in the other logs and then they were laid upon the first ones. The operation was repeated again and again, the four axemen rising with the building, and shaping the logs handed up to them by their comrades. Arrived at a height of six or eight feet, rafters made of poles from the forest were placed in position, and if a supply of ash "shakes," (rough shingles three feet long,) had been provided, the roof was at once constructed, the gable-ends being formed of logs, successively shortened to the pinnacle. Then a place for a door was sawed out, and another for a window, (if the pro- prietor aspired to such a convenience,) and the principal work of the architects was done. They were usually cheered in their labors and rewarded at the close of them by the contents of a whisky jug; for it must have been a very poor neighborhood indeed in which a few quarts of that article could not be obtained on great occasions. Some- times the proprietor obtained rough boards and made a door, but often a blanket served that purpose during the first summer. There being no brick, he built a fire-place of stone, finishing it with a chimney composed of sticks, laid up cob-house fashion, and well plastered with mud. The finishing touches were given by the owner himself; then, if the family had brought a few pots and kettles with them, they were ready to commence housekeeping. The next task was to clear a piece of land. If the pioneer had arrived very early in the season, he might possibly get half an acre of woods out of the way so as to plant a little corn the same spring. Usually, however, his ambition w^as limited to getting three or four acres ready for winter wheat by the first 138 THE LOGGING BEE. of September. To do this he worked early and late, fortunate if he was not interrupted by the ague, or some other sickness. The first thing of course was to fell the trees, but even this was a work of science. It was the part of the expert woods- man to make them all lie in one direction, so they could be easi- ly rolled together. Then they were cut into logs from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and the brush was cut up and piled. When the latter had become dry it was fired, and the land quickly burned over, leaving the blackened ground and charred logs. Next came the logging. When the piece was small the pio- neer would probably take his oxen, change works so as to obtain a couple of helpers, and the three would log an acre a day, one driving the team and two using handspikes, and thus dragging and rolling the logs into piles convenient for burning. The first dry weather these, too, were fired, the brands watched and heaped together, and when all were consumed the land was ready for the plough. Even an ordinary day in the logging field was a sufficiently sooty and disagreeable experience, but was as nothing compared with a "logging bee." When a large tract was to be logged, the neighbors were invited from far and near to a bee. Those who had oxen brought them, the others provided themselves with cant-hooks and handspikes. The officer of the day, otherwise the "boss," who was usually the owmer of the land, gave the necessary directions, designating the location of the different heaps, and the work began. The charred and blackened logs were rapidly drawn, (or "snaked," as the term was,) alongside the heap, and then the handspike brigade quickly rolled them on top of it. Another and another was dragged up in rapid succession, the handspike-men being always ready to put it right if it caught against an obstacle. As it tore along the ground, the black dust flew up in every direction, and when a collision occurred the volume of the sooty zephyr arose in treble volume. Soon every man was covered with a thick coat of black, in- volving clothes, hands and face in a darkness which no mourn- ing garb ever equaled. But the work went on with increasing speed. The different gangs caught the spirit of rivalry, and each trio or quartette strove to make the quickest trips and the highest pile. It is even said by old loggers that the oxen would PRIMITIVE FENCES. I 39 get as excited as the men, and would "snake" their loads into place with ever increasing energy. Teams that understood their business would stand quiet while the chain was being hitched, then spring with all their might, taking a bee-line to the log-heap and halt as soon as they came abreast of it. They had not the benefit, either, of the stimulus applied to the men, for the whisky jug was in frequent circulation. Faster and faster sped the men and teams to and fro, harder strained the handspike heroes to increase the pile, higher flew the clouds of dust and soot. Reckless of danger, men sprang in front of rolling logs, or bounded over them as they went whirling among the stumps. Accidents sometimes happened, but those who have been on the scene express wonder that half the necks present were not broken. As the day draws to a close a thick cloud covers the field, through which are seen a host of sooty forms, four-legged ones with horns and two-legged ones with handspikes, pulling, run- ning, lifting, shouting, screaming, giving the most vivid idea of pandemonium that a farmer's life ever offers, until night de- scends, and the tired yet still excited laborers return to their homes, clothed in blackness, and the terror of even the most careless of housewives. But the work is done. To sow the land with winter wheat was, in most cases, the next move. A patch might be reserved for corn and potatoes, but spring wheat was a very rare crop. The next absolute necessity was a fence. The modern sys- tem of dispensing with that protection was unknown and un- dreamed of Probably the records of every town organized in the Holland Purchase, down to 1850, would show that at its first town-meeting an ordinance was passed, providing that horses and horned cattle should be free commoners. Hogs, it w^as usu- ally voted, should not be free commoners, while sheep held an intermediate position, being sometimes allowed the liberty of the road, and sometimes doomed to the seclusion of the pasture. Sometimes a temporary fence was constructed by piling large brush along the outside of the clearing, but this was a poor de- fense against a steer that was really in earnest, and was held in general disfavor as a sign of " shiftlessness," that first of sins to the Yankee mind. 140 THE "VIRGINIA RAIL FEXCP:." The universal reliance, and the pride of the pioneer's heart, was the old-fashioned " Virginia rail fence." Not long ago it would have been an absurdity for an Erie county writer to say anything in the way of description about an institution so well known as that. It might perhaps do to omit any mention of it now. But if any copies of this book should last for thirty years, the readers of that day will all want to know why the author failed to describe that curious crooked fence, made of split logs, which they will have heard of but never seen. Even now it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, under the combined influences of cattle-restraining laws and the high price of timber. One of the most important things which the emigrant looked out for in selecting a farm was an ample supply of oak, elm, ash, or walnut, for rail-making purposes. Then, when winter had put an end to other work, laden with axe, and beetle, and iron wedge, and wooden wedge, he tramped through the snow to the big trees, and perhaps for months did little else than convert them into great, three-cornered rails, twelve feet long, and facing six or eight inches on each side. In the spring these were laid in fence, the biggest at the bot- tom, one end of each rail below and the other above, and each " length " of fence forming an obtuse angle with that on either side. Four and a half feet was the usual height pre- scribed by the town ordinances, but the farmer's standard of efficiency was an " eight-rail fence, staked and ridered." The last two adjectives denoted that two stout stakes were driven into the ground and crossed above the eighth rail, at each corner, while on the crotch thus formed was laid the biggest kind of a rail, serving at once to add to the height and to keep the others in place. Such a fence would often reach the height of seven feet, and prove an invincible obstacle to the hungry horse, the breachy ox, and even to the wild and wandering bull. If any of the old settlers should find any mistakes in this ac- count, I tru.st they will keep quiet, for the next generation will know nothing of the subject, and cannot criticise the description. Having now narrated the story of the average pioneer, until he has provided himself with the absolute necessities of fron- tier life — a log house, a few acres of clearing and a rail fence — I turn again to some of the details of local progress. A FOUR days' raising. 141 CHAPTER XVIII. 1806 AND 1807. A Tavern in Evans. — A Grist-Mill in Hamburg. — A Four Days' Raising. — First Meeting-house in the County. — Mills, etc., in Aurora. — Settlement in Wales. — The Tomahawk Story. — First Methodist Society. — A Traveling Ballot Box. — First Erie County Lawyer. — Primitive Pork Packing. — Pay as '^'ou Go. — The Little Red School-house. — Chivalry at a Discount. In the year 1806, Joel Harvey, the first settler of Evans, be- gan keeping tavern at his residence, at the mouth of Eight- een-Mile creek. There were some purchases made in that year near East Evans, and temporary settlements made, but accord- ing to Peter Barker, who furnished an interesting sketch of Evans to the Buffalo Historical Society, the discouraged pioneers left, and no permanent settlements were made till several years later. Mr. Harvey's was the frontier house, yet it was a good location for a tavern, on account of the heavy travel that went up the beach of the lake to Chautauqua county and Ohio. It was in 1806, too, as near as can be ascertained, that the first regular grist-mill was erected in the southwest part of the county, probably the first south of the reservation. It was built by John Cummings, on the Eighteen-Mile creek, at a place now called McClure's Mills, a mile or so below Water Valley, in the town of Hamburg. The raising of it was a grand affair. Old men still relate how from all the south part of the county the scattered settlers came with their teams, elated at the idea of having a grist- mill, and willing to make a week's journey if necessary to give it a start. Yet so few were they that their united strength was insuffi- cient to put some of the great timbers in their places. The pro- prietor sent to the reservation and obtained a crowd of Indians to help in the work. One does not expect very hard lifting from an Indian, but he can lift, when there is a prospect of plenty of whisky as a reward. It was only, however, after four days' 142 THE FIRST MEETING-HOUSE. work, by white men and red men, that the raising of the first grist-mill in Hamburg was completed. Jacob Wright about this time settled in Hamburg near Ab- bott's Corners, which for many years was known as " Wright's Corners." The " Friends " in East Hamburg had become numerous enough to organize a "Friends Meeting" in 1806. This was undoubtedly the first religious organization in the county. The next year they built a log meeting-house close to Potter's Cor- ners. It was not only the first church-building of any descrip- tion in the county, but for more than ten years it was the only one. The Quakers were equally zealous in the cause of education, and as early as 1806 built a log school-house — certainly the first one south of the reservation, and perhaps in the county. Henry Hibbard taught the first school. David Eddy also built a saw- mill on Smoke's Creek, not far from Potter's Corners. Seth and Samuel Abbott, brothers, located two or three miles southeast of Potter's Corners in the fall of 1807, both be- coming influential citizens, and the former afterwards giving his name to the village of Abbott's Corners. Among the new settlers in Boston in these years were Jona- than Bump, Benjamin Whaley, Job Palmer, Calvin Doolittle, Eliab Streeter, and Joseph Yaw in 1806, and William Cook, Ethan Howard, Kester and Serrill Alger in 1807. In the latter year the settlement first attained to the dignity of having a frame barn, the proprietor being the energetic pioneer, Charles Johnson. In 1806 or '7 the "Friends Yearly Meeting" of Philadelphia sent a mission to instruct the Indians of the Cattaraugus re- serve, having bought three hundred acres adjoining the reserva- tion. The mission was composed of several single men and women, who called themselves a family. The whole was under the management of Jacob Taylor. His nephew, Caleb Taylor, remembers the names of Stephen Twining and Hannah Jack- son, as members of the family. They located at the place since known as Taylor's Hollow, a few rods from the reservation line, where they gave instruction in farming to all the Indians who would receive it, in housework SETTLEMENT OF SPRINGVILLE. 1 43 to the squaws, and in reading, \\riting-, etc., to the youth. What- ever the improvement made, the Quakers generally produced a favorable impression on the red men. Even the bitter Red Jacket spoke of them as friends — the only white friends the In- dians had. With this exception the valley of the Cattaraugus, including all its tributaries in Erie county, remained an unbroken wilder- ness till the fall of 1807. At that time two hardy pioneers, Christopher Stone and Jolin Albro, crossed the ridge, made their own roads through the forest, and finally located on a pleasant little stream running into the Cattaraugus from the north ; in fact on the site of Springville. There they and their families remained during the winter, their nearest neighbors being at least ten miles distant, in the valley of Eighteen-Mile creek. In 1S06 Phineas Stephens bought the mill-site at the "lower village " of Aurora, and that year put up a saw-mill. That year or the next he also built a grist-mill. My authorities differ but it was probably in 1807, leaving Cummings' the first grist- mill (for wheat) in the south towns. It was certainly the first framed one, as Stephens' was built of hewed logs. Aniong new purchasers in 1806, all of whom settled that year or the next, were Solomon Hall, James S. Henshaw, Oliver Pattengill. Walter Paine, Jonathan Hussey, Ira Paine and Humphrey Smith. The latter had a great fancy for mill-sites, and besides the one at Griffinshire where he afterwards built mills, bought the one at W^est Falls and the one at the forks of the Cazenove. In 1806 or early in 1807, he does not remember which, young William Warren hung out a sign before his log house, and be- came the first tavern-keeper in the southeast part of the county. In the summer of the latter year the little cabin he had first lived in was converted into a school-house, where the first school in all that section was taught by Mary Eddy, the vigorous pedestrian mentioned by Mrs. Colvin. The next winter Warren himself kept school in the same house. That enterprising young pioneer was thus school-teacher, tavern-keeper and cap- tain all at once. His second "company training" was held at Turner's Corners, in Sheldon, in 1806, when there were about sixty men present, instead of the nine of the year before. Asa Ransom had then been appointed major commandant. 144 I'ilE MYSTERY OF THE TOMAIIA^VK. Ephraim Woodruff, the pioneer blacksmith in the southeastern part of the county, opened his shop in Aurora in 1807. In 1806 Wilham Allen made the first settlement in Wales, locating where the Big Tree road then crossed Buffalo creek, about half a mile south of Wales Center. The road then made a half-mile curve to the south to avoid the long and steep hill east of Wales Center. The same fall Amos Clark and William Hoyt located a little east of Holmes' Hill. This locality received its name from two brothers, Ebenezer and John M. Holmes, whose arrival, though it did not occur till the beginning of 1808, preceded the formation of Niagara county, and can, therefore, most conveniently be noted here. They came in February and located themselves on the top of the hill, close to the present west line of Wales. As both had large families — Ebenezer eight and John M. nine children — most of whom grew up and settled in that vicinity, it was natural that the name of " Holmes' Hill " should soon be adopted, and be- come permanent. It may be observed, in passing, that the vegetation was at that time almost as luxuriant on the hill-tops as in the valleys, and frequently deceived the keenest of the pioneers as to the value of the soil. Jacob Turner came to Wales in 1807 or '8^ and settled near William Allen. A curious story is told regarding early times in that town, even previous to its first settlement. In 181 3 an Indian hatchet was found imbedded in a tree on the land of Isaac Hall, near Wales Center. No one could imagine how it came there, and no one attempted to explain its presence. Many years later, however, (after all danger of Indian retaliation had passed away,) John Allen, who is vouched for by those who knew him as a reliable man, made the following statement concerning it : About the time the first settlers came to Buffalo, an Indian was in that village who showed the skin of a white child, which he boasted that he had killed and skinned. He declared his intention to make a tobacco-pouch out of his ghastly trophy. One of the few who heard him was Truman Allen, brother of John Allen, who told the story. He became so enraged that when the savage left for the southeast, Allen followed him as SETTLEMENT OF HOLLAND. 1 45 far as Wales, and there shot him. He buried the slain man and his gun, but stuck the tomahawk into the tree where it was afterwards found. John Allen's story was a strange one, but I give it as it was told me by P. M. Hall, who knew of the finding of the hatchet, and heard the tale from Allen. It is also nar- rated in the State Gazetteer. In 1807 the first settlement was made in the present town of Holland. Arthur Humphrey, (father of Hon. James M. Hum- phrey,) Abner Currier and Jared Scott began clearing farms on the creek flats, between South Wales and Holland village. Humphrey settled that year on the farm where he lived till his death, fifty years later. Currier and Scott brought their families a year or so afterwards. In 1806 the first purchase was made in the present town of Alden, in the northwest corner, by Jonas Vanwey. According to all accounts, however, there was no settlement till some years later. In Newstead, Elisha Geer, Jonathan Fish and others settled in 1806, and Charles Knight, Lemuel Osborn and others in 1807. Mrs. Osborn was the daughter of Knight, and still survives, a resident of the village of Akron. She is the only person re- maining in Newstead, so far as I could learn, who came as early as 1807. She relates that the first church in town was organized at her father's house just after their arrival, in July of that year. It was a Methodist society, with twelve members, and Mr. Knight was the first class-leader. Mrs. Osborn is the only surviving member. It was the first Methodist organization on the Holland Pur- chase, and probably the second religious society in Erie county, the Friends' Meeting in East Hamburg being the first. It was organized by the Rev. Peter Van Ness, one of the two first Methodist missionaries who came upon the Purchase, the Rev. ^Vmos Jenks being the other. Both were sent out in 1807, under the auspices of the Philadelphia conference. In 1806 or '7, too, Archibald S. Clarke started a store on his farm near Vandeventer s. This was the first store in the county, outside of Buffalo, and was hailed by all the people round about as marking a decisive epoch in the advance of civilization. 146 A TRAVELING BALLOT BOX. Into Clarence, in 1806, came Jonathan Barrett, John Tyler, Justice Webster and others, and in 1807, Wm. Barrett, Thomas Brown and Asa Harris. The last named settled on the Buffalo road, three or four miles west from Clarence Hollow, at a point which thenceforth went by the name of " Harris Hill," though the " hill " is so low as to be hardly perceptible. Before leaving the territory of the original town of Willink, it may be stated that, up to and including 1806, the elections were every year held at Peter Vandeventer's, and every year the worthy landlord was chosen supervisor. In 1807, however, the town-meeting was held at Clarence Hollow, and then Asa Ran- som was elected supervisor. Up to this time the scattering voters in Willink, south of the reservation, had to cross it to exercise the elective franchise. General elections, however, in those times were held three days, and in April, 1807, the southern settlers got sight of a ballot box. The election was held a day and a half north of the reservation, and on the afternoon of the second day the "board'' crossed the wilderness. The next forenoon they held open the polls at Warren's tavern in Aurora, and in the afternoon, (as Gen. W. remembers it,) in Wales, at the house of Jacob Turner. The commissioners of excise of Willink for 1807 certified to the qualifications of no less than ten persons to keep hotels in that town. Doubtless all these, and perhaps more, actually kept tavern, but there was not a single store in the town. James Hershey and William Maltby came to Amherst in 1806, and in 1807 John J. Drake, Samuel Fackler, Gamaliel St. John and others. St. John had to pay $3 an acre for his land, while the price to the rest was $2. This was doubtless because he settled close to where Jonas Williams was vigorously striving to build up the village of Williamsvillc, though without much suc- cess. Mr. St. John was an energetic pioneer, with already a large family of children, and Mrs. S. was a woman of extraordinary resolution, destined to become a historical personage in connec- tion with the burning of Buffalo. There were still but three or four houses at Williamsville, which was generally called Williams' Mills. In one of these, near the west end of the present village, Samuel McConnell kept tavern. THE FIRST LAWYER. 147 In the present city of Buffalo, outside the village, Major Noble, James Stewart, Gideon Moshier, Loren and Velorous Hodge, Henry Ketchum (brother of the late Jesse Ketchum,) and many others settled during the two years under consideration. Some of the land was held at $3.50 per acre, and from that down as low as $2.25. The village itself continued to grow, though not with the rapidity of later years, nor after the manner of some newly founded western cities. In 1806 Joseph Landon bought Crow's tavern, refitted it, made a comfortable hotel of it, and in fact founded the present Mansion House. Landon's tavern soon became celebrated far and wide, and was the first in the county which gained especial fame as a place of good cheer. In September, 1806, the earliest lawyer made his ad\-ent in Erie county. If any of the frontiersmen were disposed to look askance on a representative of the legal profession, as a proba- ble provoker of disputes and disturber of society, they must soon have been disabused of their prejudices, for Ebenezer Wal- den, the new comer, was of all men one of the most upright and most modest. He immediately commenced practice in a little office on Willink avenue, between Seneca and Crow streets, and for a year or two was the only attorney west of Batavia. In 1806, too, the population of the youthful city was increased by the advent of Mr. Elijah Leech and Mr. David Mather. The former was in the employ of Captain Pratt, whose daughter he afterwards married, and the latter established the third black- smith shop in the village. He has stated that there were but sixteen houses in Buffalo when he came in April, adding, "Eight of them were scattered along on Main street, three of them were on the Terrace, three of them on Seneca and two on Cayuga streets." I think, however, that when he made this statement Mr. Mather forgot a few buildings. He mentions only the stores of Samuel Pratt and that of "the contractors,'" then in charge of Vincent Grant, while all other accounts in- clude that of Sylvanus Maybee. Joshua Gillett also established a small store in Buffalo about that time. Apropos of that "contractors' store," General Warren tells a story illustrative of early expedients. One fall the contractors 148 BUFFALO'S "LITTLE RED SCHOOL-HOUSE. sent on a drove of hogs from the East, expecting that they would be killed and salted down at Buffalo, and the pork shipped in the spring to the western posts. At Buffalo, however, the man in charge (probably Vincent Grant,) discovered that there were no barrels to be had. In this emergency he availed himself of a small empty log house, which he packed full of alternate lay- ers of pork and salt, and thus safely kept the meat through the winter. It was probably in 1806 that the services of the Rev. Elkanah Holmes as a preacher were secured by the following primitive arrangement, narrated in after years by Mr. Landon: In the first place the inhabitants held a meeting, and made a list of those who would help pay a preacher for a certain length of time. Then they estimated the amount to be paid by each person for each week, and it was agreed that every Sunday each man should bring his money in a piece of paper, with his name on it. The arrangement was faithfully carried out, and as strangers also contributed some the preacher's salary was made up before his time was out. That was certainly a very thorough exempli- fication of the motto, "pay as you go." During the winter of 1806-7, a school was taught by a Mr. Hiram Hanchett in the old "Middaugh house." But in March of the latter year it was determined to have something better. The "little red school-house" then erected on the corner of Pearl and Swan streets, is frequently mentioned in the reminiscences of the early residents of Buffalo. Its history is interesting not only because it was the first building of its kind in what is now a great city, but because it became the subject of a somewhat famous controversy in the courts, which was not terminated till twenty-five years after the structure itself had ceased to exist. The time and manner of building it, as well as the contribu- tors thereto, have heretofore been a matter of doubtful tradition. Those who feel an interest in early local history will be gratified to learn that there is now in existence, among the miscellaneous papers of the Historical Society, a document which gives an authentic account of the beginning of school-house building in the city of Buffalo. This is nothing less than the original ac- count-book, containing the subscriptions and payments toward erecting the "little red school-house" of historic fame. A VALUABLE ACCOUNT-BOOK. I49 It is only a memorandum-book of coarse paper, with proba- bly the roughest brown, pasteboard cover ever seen on a book ; yet it is extremely interesting, not only as giving an authentic account of the erection of the first school-house in the city, and as showing the names of a large proportion of the inhabitants of the then infant village, but also because it is one of the very few documents relating to local history which survived the confla- gration of 18 13. With the solitary exception of the town-book of the town of Erie from 1805 to 1808, this account-book is the most valuable article to the student of local history in the whole collection of the Buffalo Historical Society. The following is a literal copy of the first page : "At a meeting of the Inhabitance of the Vilage of Bufifaloe meet on the twenty-ninth day of March Eighteen hundred & seven at Joseph Landon's Inn by a Vote of Sd meeting Zenas Barker in the Chair for the purpos to arect a School Hous in Sd Village by a Subscription of the Inhabitanse. also Voted that Samuel Pratt, Joseph Landon & Joshua Gil- lett be a Committee to See that they are appropriated on the School House above mentioned which Subscriptions are to be paid in by the first day of June next or Such part of it as Shall be wanted by that time." And the following is a list of the subscribers and the amounts put down by each : " Sylvanus Maybee, $20.00; Zenas Barker, 10.00; Thomas Fourth, 3.00; Joshua Gillett, 15.00; Joseph Wells, 7.00; John Johnston, 10.00; Nathaniel W. Sever, 10.00; Isaac H. Bennet, 3.00; Levi Strong, 5.00; William Hull, 10.00; Samuel Pratt, 22.00; Richard Mann, 5.00; Asahel Adkins, 5.00 ; Samuel An- drews, 1.00; Garret Freeland, i.OO; Billa Sherman, S/^^c." All the subscriptions were dated March 30, 1807, the day after the meeting. Each man's name was placed on a page of the book and charged with the amount subscribed, and then credited with the amount paid, either by cash, labor or material. The carpenter work appears to have been all done by Levi 'Strong and George Kith, whose accounts are also in the book. Their bills for work amounted to $68.50. The credits for work and material were mostly in April, 1807, showing that the building was started immediately after the subscription. From the fact that Joshua Gillett is credited with 2]^ gallons I50 WILLIAM JOHNSTON. of whisky on the 13th of April, I should presume that the "rais- ing" took place on that day. But funds and credit apparently ran low, so that Buffalo remained without a school-house a year and a half more ; for it was not until November, 1 808, that Samuel Pratt was credited with two thousand shingles for this primeval temple of education. The building was doubtless finished up for use that winter (1808-9,) for on the 23d day of May, 1809, there was a general settling up, and the last entries of small cash payments are made in the book. Most of the subscribers, including Pratt, Maybee, Landon, Barker, Gillett and Wells, paid up in full, but some appear to have failed in part and a few entirely. The book was presented to the Historical Society in 1866, by Joshua Gillett, of Wyoming county, whom I presume to have been a son of the Joshua Gillett who was one of the committee to raise funds and superintend the building. It was probably lying in a trunk, in 18 13, and was carried out of town; thus escaping the general destruction of documents at that time. Among the names mentioned as subscribers are those of Wil- liam Hull, Asahel Adkins and Joseph Wells, all of whom came late in 1806 or early in 1807. Hull was a silversmith, the first in the county after Ransom quit working for the Indians, Ad- kins soon afterwards opened a tavern on " The Plains," long cele- brated for its good cheer, and the usual resort of Buffalonians on their simple pleasure excursions in those days. William Johnston, who at one time had held the destiny of Buffalo almost entirely under his control, died in 1807, being then the largest private land-holder in the village, except Mr. Ellicott. He had reached the age of sixty-five, and after the stormy scenes of his early life, wdien he had led his tories and savages against the American frontier, he sank quietly to rest, respected as a good neighbor and an intelligent citizen. David Mather says : " I was with him a good deal during his last illness, and from what escaped him then I judged that he had been familiar with some of the most barbarous scenes of the border wars." His half-breed son John inherited his property (now of immense value,) and married a daughter of Judge Barker, but did not live long to enjoy his fortune. CHIVALRY AT A DISCOUNT. 151 I will close this chapter with the description of an amus- ing scene which occurred in Buffalo in the fall of 1807, related to me by Gen. Warren. Militia regiments in those days had no colonels, but were each organized with a lieutenant-colonel commanding, and two majors. In 1807, the militia of the west- ern part of Genesee county had been formed into a regiment, with Asa Ransom as lieutenant-colonel commanding, and T. S. Hopkins and Sylvanus Maybee as majors. There had been several " company trainings," but as yet no " general training." At the first "officer meeting" after the new appointments were made, a dispute arose between Col. Ransom and Major Maybee, as to who should be recommended to the governor for the vacant captaincy of the Buffalo company, in place of May- bee, promoted. The war of words grew more and more furious, until at length the doughty major challenged his superior officer to fight a duel. For this infraction of military discipline Col. Ransom put the major under arrest, and reported his case to the higher authorities. In due time a court-martial was convened, Capt. Warren being one of the witnesses, and Maybee was tried and cashiered. He must have taken his military misfortune very much to heart, for, though he had been a prominent man in Buffalo, he immediately disappeared from its records, and undoubtedly left the village, apparently preferring the discomfort of making a new home to remaining where he could not enjoy the glory of a duel, nor the honors of a militia major. Thus sadly ended the first display of chivalry in Erie county. 152 LONG ELECTION JOURNEYS. CHAPTER XIX. REORGANIZATION. Division^ of Genesee County Necessary. — Inconvenient Towns. — Captain Bemis' Strategy. — Erection of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties. — Short Courts. — Town Changes. — Clarence. — Willink. — Destruction of the Town of Erie. — Actual Beginning of Erie County. In the beginning of 1808, there was a reorganization of the counties and towns of the Holland Purchase, so complete, and in some respects so peculiar, as to merit a brief chapter by itself. Hitherto the boundaries of Genesee county had remained as at first defined, except that Allegany had been taken off in 1806, but by 1808 the inhabitants felt that they were suffi- ciently numerous to justify a subdivision, and, what was more important, Mr. Ellicott became satisfied that the interests of the Holland Company would be promoted by such a change, even though they should have to erect the new county buildings. The towns, too, eighteen miles wide and a hundred miles long, which had done well enough when nearly all the settlers were scattered along the Buffalo road, were now found to be in- convenient in the extreme. Going from Fort Niagara to Buf- falo, nearly forty miles, to town-meeting, was a little too much even for the ardent patriotism of the American voter. Scarcely less troublesome was it to cross the reservation for that purpose. Besides there was already a settlement at Olean, in the town of Willink, the inhabitants of which if they ever went to election, which is doubtful, must have traversed a distance of sixty miles, and twenty miles further to town-meeting, which was always held north of the reservation. A story was told me in Hamburg, quite in harmony with the circumstances, to the effect that the Buffalonians were converted to the project of dividing the town of Erie by a piece of strategy on the part of Capt. Jotham Bemis, then resident near Abbott's Corners. They had opposed a division, as all the town business TIIRliE NEW COUNTIES. 153 was done at their villat^e, bringing- them more or less trade, and making unnecessary, so far as tliey were concerned, the expense of new towns. So, in the spring of 1807, Capt. Bemis made arrangements for all the south part of the town of Erie to be fully represented at Buffalo, by men prepared to stay over night. It was then customary to fix the place of the next town-meeting in the afternoon, just before closing the polls. Accordingly, all the south-country people duly appeared at Buffalo, and every man of them remained. Most of those from north of the reservation started for home early, and the villagers alone were in the minority. When the time came for appoint- ing the next place of meeting, the gallant captain rallied his men, and it was fixed at John Green's tavern, in the present town of East Hamburg. Then the Buffalo people were willing the town should be divided, and used their influence also in favor of a division of the county. Whether this story be true or not, certain it is that on the i ith day of March there was a complete municipal reorganization of the Holland Purchase. On that day a law was passed by which all that part of the county of Genesee lying north of Cattarau- gus creek, and west of the line between the fourth and fifth ranges of townships, should form the county of Niagara. The counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua were erected at the same time, with substantially the same limits as now', but it was provided that neither of them should be organized until it should have five hundred voters, and meanwhile both, for all county purposes, were attached to Niagara. It was also enacted that the county-seat of the latter county should be at " Buffaloe or New Amsterdam," provided the Hol- land Company should in three years erect a suitable court-house and jail, and should deed to the county at least half an acre of ground, on which they should stand. It gives a somewhat amus- ing idea of the amount of legal business expected to be done, to note that three terms annually of the Court of Common rieas and two of the Court of General Sessions were provided for, and that in order to give time for the Court of Sessions it was enacted that two terms of the Common Pleas, all of which were to be held on Tuesday, might be extended till the Satur- 154 DESTRUCTION OF "ERIE." day following ! The first court was directed to be held at the house of Joseph Landon. B}- the same act the town-lines of the Purchase were changed to a very remarkable extent. A tier of townships oft' from the east side of Willink had been left in Genesee county. This, together with old Batavia, was cut up into the three towns of Batavia, Warsaw and Sheldon. All that part of Niagara county north of the center of Ton- awanda creek, being a part of the former towns of Willink and Erie, and covering the same ground as the present county of Niagara, was formed into a town by the name of Cambria. All that part between Tonawanda creek and the center of the Buf- falo Creek reservation, also comprising parts of both Willink and Erie, was formed into a town by the name of Clarence, which as will be seen included the village of Buffalo. The first town-meeting was directed to be held at the house of Elias Ransom, (near Eggertsville.) All that part of Niagara county south of the center of the reservation, being also a part of Wil- link and Erie, was formed into a town which retained the name of Willink. In the new county of Cattaraugus a single town was erected named Olean, while Chautauqua county was divided into two towns, Chautauqua and Pomfret. It will be seen that by this act the town of Erie was com- pletely obliterated from the map, while Willink, which had pre- viously been eighteen miles wide and a hundred miles long, extending from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, was changed into a town bounded by the Buff^ilo reservation, Lake Erie, Cat- taraugus creek, and the east line of the county, having an extreme width north and south of twenty-five miles, and an ex- treme length east and west of thirty-five. So great was the complication caused by the destruction of the old town-lines^ while retaining one of the town-names, (as well as by the sub- sequent revival of "Erie" as a town-name, as will be hereafter related,) that all the local historians and statisticians have got lost in trying to describe the early municipal organization of this county. Even PVench's State Gazetteer, a book of much merit and very great labor, is entirely at fault in regard to near- ly all the earlier town formations of iCric county. ACTUAL BEGINNING OF ERIE COUNTY. 155 The oldest residents of the town of Erie, also, had forgotten its existence, and insisted that "Willink" covered the whole "■round. Even the uentlcnian who told me the story as he had heard it, of the Bemis maneuver, supposed it related to a divi- sion of Willink. Although "Erie" was plainly laid down on a map of the Purchase made by Ellicott in 1804, I was half dis- posed for a while to regard it as a myth, and mentally desig- nated it as "The Lost Town." The old town-book before referred to, however, gave me considerable faith in it, and at length an examination of the laws of 1804 and 1808, proved its existence and showed how completely the previous organization was broken up by the statute creating Niagara county. It will have been seen that, by that law, there were but three towns in Niagara county, two of which were in the present county of Erie. As, however, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua were temporarily united with Niagara, the new^ board of super- visors which met in Buffalo must have been composed of six members, representing a territory a hundred miles long and from twenty to seventy-five miles wide. This was substantially the beginning of the present Erie county organization, although the name of Niagara was after- wards given to that part north of the Tonawanda. Erie county formed the principal part of old Niagara, both in territory and population ; the county seat of old Niagara was the same as that of Erie, and such of the old Niagara county records as are not destroyed are retained in Erie county. Having thus reached an epoch in the course of events, another chapter of a general nature becomes necessary. \:6 THE I'lONliERS BARN. CHAPTER XX. MISCELLANEOUS. The rioneer's Bam.— The Well.— The Sweep.— Browse.— Sheep and Wolves.— Sugar-making. — Money Scarce. — Wheat and Tea. — Potash. — Social Life. — Schools. — The Husking Bee. — Buffalo Society. — Dress. — Indians.— Loaded Beaver Claws. — Peter Gimlet. — An Indian Court. — The Devil's Ramrod. — Describing a Tavern. — Old King and Young Smoke. — Anecdotes of Red Jacket. After the pioneer had got his log house, his piece of clearing and his fence, the next thing was a barn. An open shed was generally made to suffice for. the cattle, which were expected to .stand cold as well as a salamander is said to endure fire. But with the gathering of harvests came the necessity for barns, and, though log ones were sometimes erected, it was so difficult to make them large enough that frame barns were built as soon as circumstances would possibly permit, and long before frame houses were aught but distant possibilities. All were of substantially the same pattern, differing only in size. The frame of the convenient forest timber, scored and hewed by the ready hands of the pioneer himself, and roughly fitted by .some frontier carpenter, the sides enclosed with pine boards without battening, the top covered with shingles, a threshing floor and drive-way in the center, with a bay for hay on one side, and a little stable room on the other, surmounted by a scaffold for grain — such was the Erie county barn of 1 808, and it has changed less than any other adjunct of the farm, though battened and painted sides, and basement stables, are becoming more common every year. Generally preceding the barn if there was no spring conven- ient, but otherwise slightly succeeding it, was the well. The digging of this, like almost everything else, was done by the proprietor himself, with the aid of his boys, if he had any large enough, or of a neighbor to haul up the dirt. Its depth of course depended on the location of water, but that was gencr- A PICTURESQUE OBJECT. I 57 ally to be found in abundant quantity and of good quality at from ten to twenty feet. Excellent round stone was also abundant, and the settlers were never reduced to the condition of those western pioneers who are obliged, (to use their own expression,) to stone up their wells with cotton-wood plank. The well being dug and stoned up, it was completed for use by a superstructure which was then universal, but is now almost utterly a thing of the past. A post ten or twelve inches in di- ameter and some ten feet high, with a crotch ed top, was set in the ground a few feet from the well. On a stout pin, running- through both arms of the crotch, was hung a heavy pole or " sweep," often twenty feet long, the larger end resting on the ground, the smaller one rising in air directly over the well. To this was attached a smaller pole, reaching to the top of the w^ell. At the lower end of this pole hung the bucket, the veritable " old oaken bucket, that hung in the well," and the process of drawing water consisted in pulling down the small end of the sweep till the bucket was filled, and then letting the butt end pull it out, with some help. If the pioneer had several small children, as he generally had, a board curb, about three feet square and two and a half high, usually ensured their safety. The whole formed, for a long time, a picturesque and far-seen addition to nearly every door-yard in Erie county. ,Once in a great while some wealthy citizen would have a windlass for raising water, but for over a quarter of a century after the first settlements a farmer no more thought of having a pump than of buying a steam-engine. It took longer for the pioneer to get a meadow started than to raise a crop of grain. Until this was done, the chief support of his cattle in winter was " browse," and for a long time after it was their partial dependence. Day after day he went into the woods, felled trees — beech, maple, birch, etc. — and drove his cattle thither to feed on the tender twigs. Cattle have been kept through the whole winter with no other food. Even in a much more advanced state of settlement, ''browse" was a fre- quent resource to eke out slender stores, or supply an unex- pected deficiency. In the house the food consisted of corn-bread or wheat-bread, I5- Turner, that the first meetings were held in the court-house. It was formed by a union of Congregationalists and Presbyterians, under the direction of Rev. Thaddeus Osgood. Amos Callen- der, who came shortly after, became a leading member of the church. One account makes the organization still later, but I think the above is correct. There was still no minister except an occasional missionary. Among the new comers was another of the "big men " who by strength of brain and will, and almost of arm, fairly lifted Buf- falo over the shoals of adverse fortune. Tall, broad-shouldered, fair-faced and stout-hearted, young Dr. Ebenczer Johnson en- tered on the practice of his profession with unbounded zeal and energy in the fall of 1809, and for nearly thirty years scarcel>- any man exercised a stronger influence in the village and city of his adoption. Another arrival was that of Oliver Forward, a brother-in-law of Judge Granger, who became deputy collector of customs and assistant postmaster, and who long exercised a powerful influence in Buffalo. TOWN OF "BUP^FALOK." l8l CHAPTER XXII. JUST BEFORE THE AA/^AR. rovvu of "Buffaloe." — New Militia Regiments. — Buffalo Business. — Peter B. Porter — Tonauanda. — Store at Williamsville. — Clai-ence. — Settlement of Alden. — James Wood. — A Wolfish Salute. — An Aged Couple. — Colden. — Richard Buffum. — Springville.^ — Tucker's Table. — A Crowded Cabin. — Turner Aldrich. — The "Hill Difficulty." — Sardinia. — A Resolute Woman. — Boston and Eden. — Unlucky Sheep. — Evans. — Bears and Hedge-hogs. — A Store too soon. — Crossing the Reservation. — A Mill-race as a Fish Trap. — Buffalo Firms. — H. B. Potter. — The Buffalo Gazette. — Feminine Names. — Old-Time Books. — An Erudite Captain. — " Buffalo-e." — The Unborn Reporter. — In- flation of the Marriage List. — Divers Advertisements. — " A Delinquent and a Villain." — Morals and Lotteries. — The Two Chapins. — A Medical Melee. — A Federal Committee. — Division of Willink. — Hamburg, Eden and Con- cord.— Approach of War. — Militia Officers. — An Indian Council. — A Vessel Captured. — The War Begun. This chapter I'elates principally to the years 1810 and 181 1, but will be extended to the beginning of the war, in June, 181 2. In the first-named year the United States census was taken, and the population of Niagara county was found to be 6,132. Of these just about two thirds were in the present county of Erie. In that year, too, the name "Buffalo," or "Buffaloe," was first legally applied to a definite tract of territory. On the lothday of February, a law was passed erecting the towm of "Buffaloe," comprising all that part of Clarence west of the West Transit. In other words, it comprised the present city of Buffalo, the towns of Grand Island, Tonawanda, Amherst and Cheektowaga, and the north part of West Seneca ; being about eighteen miles long north and south, and from eight to sixteen miles wide east and west. Another event considered of much importance in those days was the formation of new militia regiments. The men subject to military duty in Buffalo and Clarence were con- stituted a regiment, under Lieut. Col. Asa Chapman, then living near Buffalo. Samuel Hill, Jr., of Newstead, was one of his majors. The men of Willink formed another regiment, and l82 PETER H. PORTER. youni^ Major Warren was promoted to lieutenant-colonel com- manding;-. His majors were William C. Dudley, of Evans, and Benjamin Wlialey, who was or had been a resident of Boston. There was also a regiment in Cambria, and one in Chautauqua county, and the whole was under the command of Brigadier- General Timothy S. Hopkins. The mercantile business of Buffalo began to increase. Juba Storrs, having abandoned the law, formed a partnership with Benjamin Caryl and Samuel Pratt, Jr., under the firm name of Juba Storrs & Co., which took high rank in the little commer- cial world of Buffalo. In 1810, the junior member, Mr. Pratt, was appointed sheriff, and Mr. Storrs himself, county clerk. Eli Hart and Isaac Davis also erected and opened stores about that time. Another new settler, afterwards quite noted, was Ralph Pomeroy, who began the erection of a hotel on the northeast corner of Main and Seneca streets. Asa Coltrin, a physician, and John Mullett, a tailor, came about the same time. Dr. Daniel Chapin, who was there then, and perhaps came earlier, was a physician of some note, and was the principal rival of his namesake. Dr. Cyrenius Chapin. The two were usually at bitter feud. The most influential new comer in the county, however, was Peter B. Porter, who, after being reelected to Congress in the spring of 18 10, removed from Canandaigua to Black Rock. He was then thirty-seven years old, unmarried, a handsome, porth- gentleman of the old school, of smooth address, fluent speech, and dignified demeanor. At Canandaigua he had practiced at the bar, but after his re- moval he devoted himself to his commercial fortunes as a mem- ber of the firm of Porter, Barton & Co., save when attending to his political duties. Mr. Porter was the first citizen of Erie county who exercised a wide political influence. A few lots were sold at Black Rock in 1810, and one or two small stores put up, but there were still very few residents. The same year the Holland Company (that is, the several in- dividuals commonly so-called) sold their preemption right in all the Indian reservations on the Purchase to David A. Ogden. He was acting in behalf of other parties, joined witli himself, in THE NORTH TOWNS. 183 the speculation, and the owners were i^enerally called the Ogden Company. The whole amount of territory was about 196,000 acres, and the purchase price $98,000. That is to say, Ogden and his friends gave fifty cents an acre for the sole right of buy- ing out the Indians whenever they should wish to sell. There was still very little improvement in the north part of Tonawanda. Robert Simpson settled about a mile from Tona- wanda village. His son, John Simpson, then a boy, says that Garret Van Slyke was then keeping tavern on the north side of the creek, but on this side there was nothing but forest. A guard-house was built on this side on the approach of war. Henry Anguish lived a mile up the river. The only road to Buffalo was along the beach. Another one had been under- brushed out but was not used. It was about 18 10 that Isaac F. Bowman opened a little store at Williamsville, the first in the present town of Amherst, and probably the third in the county, out of Buffalo. The same year Benjamin Bowman bought the saw-mill on Eleven-Mile creek, four miles above Williamsville, (in the northwest corner of Lancaster,) and soon after built another, and the place has ever since retained the name of Bowman's Mills, or Bow- mansville. The lowlands of township 13, range 7, being the north part of Amherst, had not even had a purchaser until 18 10, when Adam VoUmer bought two lots at $3.00 per acre. The same was the case in township 13, range 6, forming the north part of Clarence, where John Stranahan purchased at $2.75. At the town-meeting this year Samuel Hill, Jr., was re- elected supervisor of Clarence, which by the erection of " Buf- faloe" had been reduced to a territory only eighteen miles long and twelve miles wide. It was also voted "that every path- master's yard should be a lawful pound," and that a bounty of $5.00 each should again be offered for wolves and panthers. Elder John Le Suer and Elder Salmon Bell were both minis- ters resident in the old town of Clarence before the war, the former being quite noted throughout the northern part of the county. Moses Fenno, who moved into the present town of Alden in 184 A WOLFISH SALUTE. the spring of 18 10, is usually considered there as the first settler of that town, though Zophar Beach, Samuel Huntington and James C. Rowan had previously purchased land on its western edge, and it is quite likely some of them had settled there. it is certain, however, that Fenno was the beginner of im- provement in the vicinity of Alden village, and raised the first crops theix', in the year mentioned. The same year came Joseph Freeman, afterwards known as Judge Freeman, William Snow and Arunah Ilibbard. It was in 1801 that the present town of Wales attained to the dignity of a framed house. It was built by Jacob Turner, and his daughter, Mrs. Judge Paine, informs me that it is still stand- ing upon the farm of Isaac W. Gail, Esq. One of the new settlers in Wales in 18 10 was James Wood, then a youth of twenty, who, after a long and most active career, passed away a few months since. He informed me last year that when, in 18 10, he began making a clearing on the flats just, below the village of " Wood's Hollow," which derived its name from him, there was not a house south of him in the town- ship. There was no road, but on the west side of the creek was a well-beaten Indian trail. In fact the wolves were about his only neighbors, and much closer than he liked. Having brought a heifer and five or six sheep from Aurora, the young pioneer secured them in a pen, close to his cabin. Hearing the wolves howl at night, he went out, when he found them closing in all around him, and could hear their jaws go "snap, snap," in the darkness of tl:e forest. Calling his dog to his aid, he managed to beat a retreat to his cabin, but he always vividly remembered the snapping of the wolves' jaws around him. Fortunately they were unable to get into the sheep-pen. Emigration was brisk all through the county, and log houses were continually rising by the wayside, but incidents of special interest were less common in the older settlements than among the first emigrants. Among the new comers in Aurora this year were Jonathan Bowen, Asa Palmer and Rowland Letson. The first church was organized in town by the Baptists. It had sixteen members. In East Hamburg, besides Stephen Kester, Elisha Clark and LAKE SHORE RELICS. 1 85 others, William Austin, then a young man of twenty-four, set- tled with his wife in the Smith (or Newton) neighborhood, and both are still living in the town. This is the only instance that I remember of a man and woman married before the war of 18 1 2 both of whom still survive, though there may be others. Mr. Austin remembers that there was a town-meeting at John Green's tavern, (afterwards kept by George B. Green,) when he first came, on the subject of dividing the town of Willink, and that some of the voters said they came thirty miles to attend it. By this time (181 1) the locality of East Hamburg village be- gan to be known as " Potter's Corners," from two or three prom- inent men of that name who had settled there. By this time, too, that energetic mill-builder under difficulties. Daniel Smith, had, in company with his brother Richard, got him up a regular grist-mill, near where Long's mill now stands, at Hamburg village, which then began to be known by the name of Smith's Mills. Among the settlers in the vicinity was Moses Dart, a still surviving citizen. About this time, perhaps earlier, the Messrs. Ingersoll lo- cated on the lake shore, in Hamburg, just below the mouth of the Eighteen-Mile. Shortly after their arrival they discovered on the summit of the high bank seven or eight hundred pounds of wrought iron, apparently taken ofif from a vessel. It was much eaten with rust, and there were trees growing from it ten to twelve inches in diameter. A few years before, as related by David Eddy, a fine anchor had been found imbedded in sand on the Hamburg lake shore. Ten or twelve years later two cannon were discovered on the beach near where the iron was found. The late James W. Peters, of East Evans, in a communication to the Buffalo Com- mercial Advertiser, reproduced in Turner's "Holland Purchase," stated that he saw them immediately after their discovery, and cleaned away enough of the rust to lay bare a number of letters on the breech of one of them. He stated that the word or words thus exposed were declared to be I""rench ; he did not say b\- whom, nor what they were. From these data, Turner and others have inferred that the Griffin was wrecked at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile creek ; that such of the crew as escaped intrenched themselves there to resist 13 1 86 SETTLEMENT OF COLDEX. the Indians, but were finally overpowered and slain. It is much more probable, however, that the Griffin sank amid the storms of the upper lakes, especially as La Salle and his three companions came back on foot not far from Lake Erie, doubtless making constant inquiries of the Indians as to any wrecked vessel. Mr. O. H. Marshall is very decidedly of the opinion that the evidences of shipwreck found on the lake shore were due to the loss of the Beaver, which occurred near that locality about 1765, and furnished an essay supporting this view to the Buffalo His- torical Society, which has unfortunately been lost. The size of the trees growing over the irons confirms Mr. Marshall's theory, which is in all probability correct. It is not seriously invalidated by the French words (if they were French,) on the cannon, as many English mottoes (such as " Diai et mon droit,'' '' Honi soit qui inal y pense," etc.,) are of French origin. Dr. John March and Silas Este settled near Eden Valley in 1 8 10, and Morris March, son of the former, informs me that there were just four families in town w4ien they came. When the two families came, in March, they had to draw^ their wagons by hand on the ice across the Eighteen-Mile at Water Valley, where a saw-mill was about to be erected. Up to this time no settlement had been made in the present town of Golden, but in 18 10 Richard Buffum became its pioneer. He was a Rhode Islander of some property, and being desirous of emigrating westward he was requested by a number of his neighbors to go into an entirely new district and purchase a place where he could build mills, when they would settle around him. Accordingly he came to the Ilolland Purchase, and located on the site of Golden village. His son, Thomas Buffum, then seven years old, informs me that his father cut his own road six or eight miles, and then built him a log house forty feet long ! This is the largest log dwelling of which I have heard in all my researches, and is entitled to special mention. The same fall he put up a saw-mill. Various causes prevented the coming of the neighbors he had calculated on, and for a good while Mr. Buf- fum was very much isolated. The first year no one came ex- cept men whom he had hired. As, however, he had eleven children, he was probably not very lonesome. tucker's table. 187 There was considerable emigration into Concord in 1810. One of the first comers was WilHam Smith, whose son, Calvin C, then seven years old, names (besides Albro, Cochran and Russell) Jedediah Cleveland, Elijah Dunham, Mr. Person and Jacob Drake as residents when he came. Rufus Eaton, long an influential citizen, came that summer, and Jonathan Townsend purchased, and probably settled, in the locality which has since been known as Townsend Hill. Josiah Fay, Benjamin C. Fos- ter, Seneca Baker, Philip Van Horn, Luther Curtis and others came about the same time into various parts of Concord. There were early friends of education at Springville. Mr. Smith says that Anna Richmond taught the first school in the summer of 18 10, with only fourteen scholars, just north of the site of the village, in a log barn, in which a floor had been put made of basswood puncheons. In February, 18 10, Samuel Tucker, brother of Abram, the pioneer in North Collins of the previous year, moved into that town, following the Indian trail by way of Water Valley and Eden Center. It was the first team that passed over that trail. His provisions consisted principally of a barrel of flour and a barrel of pork ; these he rolled down some of the steepest hills, as he could manage them better by hand than on the sled. He settled a mile and a half south of North Collins village (Kerr's Corners). There he built a log house ; that was a mat- ter of course, but a piece of his furniture was entirely unique. Having no table he left a stump, nicely .squared oft] standing in the middle of his house, and this was the family table. His first wheat for seed w^as only procured by trading off" a log- chain, and it was tw^o years before the light shone through a glass window on his peculiar table. Enos Southwick came with his family the same year, and Abram Tucker admitted them to the shelter of his hospitable mansion. In that little bark-covered cabin, was born in August, 1 8 10, George Tucker, the first white child in the towns of Col- lins and North Collins, and in September following, George Southwick, the second native of the same district. If there had been a stump in that house it would have been rather crowded. For these last facts I am indebted to Mr. George Southwick, of Gowanda, who ought to know as to their correctness. IcS8 "THE II II. I. DIFFICULTY. Among other settlers before the war, in Nortli CoHins, were Henry Tucker, Benjamin Leggctt, Levi Woodward, Stephen White, Stephen Twining, Gideon Lapham, Noah Tripp, Abra- ham Gifford, Orrin Brayman, Jonathan Southwick, Hugh Mc- Millan, and^jCilly Stafiford. For most of these names I am in- debted to Humphrey Smith, Esq., of North Collins, though not arriving himself till just after the war, learned who were there before, and whose extraordinary memory has been of much assistance to me. In the spring or summer of 1810, Turner Aldrich and his family came up the Cattaraugus creek from the lake beach, and let their wagons down the "breakers" into the Gowanda flats by means of ropes hitched to the hind axle and payed out from around trees. They located on the site of Gowanda, and were the first family in Collins, except those near Taylor's Hollow. In the spring of that same year, however, Stephen Wilber, Stephen Peters and Joshua Palmerton came in, built a cabin and went to keeping bachelor's hall about a mile west of the site of Collins Center, where they had all bought lands. In the fall Wilber went back to Cayuga county. In March, 181 1, he returned with his family, accompanied by quite a colony, consisting of Allen King and wife, Luke Cran- dall and wife, Arnold King, John King, and Henry Palmerton. The Crandalls had come from Vermont, and when they started for the Holland Purchase Mrs. C.'s father, in accordance with olden custom, presented her with a bottle of rum, directing her not to uncork it until they reached "The Hill Difficulty;" re- ferring to Pilgrim's Progress. They came into Collins from the east and at what is now known as Woodward's Hollow they had to chain the sleds to trees to get down safely. At the foot of the ascent on the other side Mrs. Crandall said : "Here is 'The Hill Difficulty,' let us drink," and opened her bottle, presenting it first to Mrs. Wilber. Any one who has been at that place will appreciate her remark. After their arrival Mr. Wilber improvised a vehicle by falling a small tree, using the body for a tongue and the branches for runners. This was the only carriage that could be navigated among the numerous fallen trees. Men used to fasten a bag of corn to the cross-piece, and spend three days going to Yaw's CONCORD AND SARDINIA. 1 89 mill in Boston. When there was not time for this they would use one of the stump-mortars, or "plumpini;-mills," before described. During the period before the war, besides those mentioned, there were purchases and probabl)' settlements made by Seth Blossom, George Morris, Ethan Howard, Abraham Lapham, Ira Lapham, and Silas Howard. Smith Bartlett came but a little later. Samuel Burgess, Harry Sears and others bought near Spring- ville in 181 1, while Benjamin Fay located at Townsend Hill. In fact immigrants into Concord became so numerous that Rufus Eaton thought it necessary to build a saw-mill in 181 1 or 1812. New settlers were also numerous in Sardinia in 181 1 and the beginning of 18 12. Among them were Horace Rider, Henry Godfrey, Randall Walker, Benjamin Wilson, Daniel Hall, Giles Briggs, John Cook, Henry Bowen, Smithfield Ballard and Francis Easton. Elihu Rice also moved there at that period, and according to his son's recollection brought a small stock of goods, w^hich he sold in his log dwelling-house. This was quite a common way of impro\asing a store in those days. Ezra Nott, the first pioneer of the town, married just before the war, and brought in his bride, who survives in a pleasant old age at Sardinia village. She says they went to housekeeping in a cabin "with no doors and very little floor." Sumner Warren, a younger brother of William, also located in town before the war, and built a saw-mill on Mill brook, near the mouth. Mrs. Nott relates how his mother came to visit him, on horseback, from Aurora. There was no road south of the Humphrey settlement in Holland. Threading her way among the gulfs south of Holland village, she emerged on the level land of Sardinia. But, having occupied more time than she intended, night came upon her and she was unable to determine her course. Finding it useless to attempt farther progress, she tied her horse to a sapling, took off the saddle, and coolly laid down and waited till morning. The wolves occasionally howled in the distance, but were either not numerous enough or not hungry to venture near. How much she slept I cannot say. [QO HOLLAND, COLDEN, ETC. Among the new settlers in Holland at this time was Joseph Cooper, who located on the farm where his son Samuel, then a boy, still resides. At that time the latter says there was no road farther south than his father's place. A Baptist church was organized in Boston in i8ii. Mr. Tru- man Gary states that Rev. Cyrus Andrews, a Baptist minister, came there the same year and preached ten years. Doubtless, however, he officiated in other places also, for I do not think there was a church in the county able to support a settled minis- ter. Clark Carr, also a Baptist minister, settled near the Concord line before the war, and preached much of the time throughout his life. John Twining, Lemuel Parmely, and Dorastus and Edward Hatch were among the new comers to Boston. The last named person, then twenty-two years old, still survives, being the earliest settler in Boston who was twenty -one years old when he came. Richard Sweet and one or two others joined Buffum's little colony in Colden. There was also considerable emigration to Eden that year, Among the new settlers were Levi Bunting, Samuel Webster. Joseph Thorne, James Paxon, John Welch, Josiah Gail and James Pound. Another was John Hill, who located at Kden Center, where he was the first settler and where three of his sons, still reside. They inform me that their father brought a flock of a dozen or two sheep all the way from Otsego county. On arriving at Tubbs' Hollow, the night before reaching their destination, the wolves got among the sheep and killed ever)- one with a single exception ; the one that wore the bell. It did not follow from the extent of the slaughter that there were many animals engaged in it. A single wolf has been known to kill six or eight sheep out of a flock in the same raid; merely sucking the blood of each and then leaving it to chase the others. Numerous settlers, too, sought the handsome level lands of Evans. James Ayer located on the lake shore in i8ii, where his son now resides. The latter informs me that \\hen they came Gideon Dudley was at PL vans Center, David Corbin and Timothy Dustin near there, and a Mr. Pike near the stream now called Pike creek. A Mr. Palmer was then keeping tavern BEARS AND HEDCKIIOGS. I91 at the mouth of the Eighteen-Mile. Hezckiah Dibble also came before the war, becoming an influential citizen. Among the new comers in Hamburg were Ira Fisk, Boroman Salisbury, Henry Clark, Shubael Sherman and Ebenezer Inger- soll, while in East Hamburg there were Pardon Pierce, James Paxson, Joseph Hawkins and others. Dr. William Warriner was a physician in Hamburg at this time, and Obadiah Baker had a grist-mill on Smoke's creek, near Potter's Corners. Early in the spring of 18 12 Daniel Sumner made the first settlement on Chestnut Ridge, locating just south of the farm now occu- pied by his step-son, S. V. R. Graves, Esq., then a small boy. Here, as elsewhere, the bears and wolves were abundant, and one or two anecdotes related by Mr. G. show the extreme af- fection of the former for pork. On one occasion a bear came close to the house, seized a shote weighing a hundred pounds, and made off with it. Coming to a seven-rail fence, the apparently clumsy animal scrambled over it, bearing the porker in her mouth something as a cat does a kitten, and leaving no trace behind save the marks of her claws on the top rail. Another bear attacked an old sow in a shanty close to the residence of Amos Colvin, in the Newton neighborhood. The old man ran out and found the two animals under a work-bench, and no amount of beating could make the bear let go her hold. Having some powder, but no ball nor shot, Colvin broke off a piece of the bail of a kettle, loaded his gun with it, and actually killed the stubborn invader with this primitive ammunition. Another animal, which has disappeared since then, was the hedo-ehoer. This black and " fretful " little animal was then o o common, especially among the chestnuts of that region, and many an unsophisticated young dog has returned home sore and bleeding from the wounds inflicted by his apparently insignifi- cant antagonist. Although the casting of their quills is a fable, yet they could really use them with great efficiency as simple defensive weapons, and experienced canines usually declined the unequal contest. By the spring of 181 1 the township now called Aurora had increased in population (including among the new comers of that year the Staffords, who settled " Staffordshire," Moses Thomp- 192 AURORA, WALES, ETC. son, Russell Darling, Amos Underbill and others,) so that it was thought it might support a store. Accordingly John Ad- ams and Daniel Hascall purchased a little stock of goods in Hutfalo, put up a counter in the log house belonging to one of thein, near what is now Blakeley's Corners, and indulged in the dignity of merchandising for about six month.s, and then sus- pended. They were evidently ahead of their age. Dr. John Watson was the first medical practitioner in Aurora. His younger brother, Ira G., also located there just before the war. They were the only ph}'sicians in the whole southeast part of the county. Though there were no '' settled " ministers, yet Elder Samuel Gail, then living in Aurora, and licensed by the Methodist Church, frequently preached in houses or barns, or under the canopy of heaven, according to circumstances. The occasional preaching then begun by the youthful minister was continued for nearly sixty years, until " Elder Gail " was one of the best- known men in the south part of Erie county. Wales began to increase more rapidly than before; Varnum Kenyon, Eli Weed, Jr., Nathan Mann and others being among the newcomers of 181 1, and in the succeeding winter young James Wood taught the first school in town. Isaac Hall also came that year, locating at what has since been known as " Hall's Hollow," or "Wales Center," where he soon built a saw-mill and grist-mill, the first in Wales, and also opened a tavern. His son, P. M. Hall, mentions Alvin Iku't, Benjamin Earl and others, as in town when he came. Up to this time inhabitants of the " Cayuga Creek " settle- ment had been obliged to patronize the grist-mill at Clarence Hollow, or the one at Aurora. Water sometimes failed at the former, and the road to the latter was difficult to travel or even to discover. Mr. Clark, to whom I am indebted for so many reminiscences of those times, says that his father and two others once started on horseback for Stephens' Mill, with seven bushels of grain in all, designing to follow the " Ransom road," since called the " Girdled road," which crossed the reservation, striking the Big Tree road about a quarter of a mile west of the site of Aurora Academy. They were unable to keep the track, however, and BUFFALO BUSINESS. 193 after many \vandcrini4s struck the road from Aurora to Buffalo, which they mistaken!)' followed toward the latter place till they reached the Indian villatje. The " Ransom road " was evidently a very blind guide. Such troubles came to an end in 181 1, when Ahaz Allen built a grist-mill at what is now Lancaster village. Its dam was the first on Cayuga creek, and after the race was shut, the first night, nine hundred and fifty-five fish — suckers, mullet, mus- calonge, etc. — were caught in it. The supervisor of Clarence for 181 1 was Samuel Hill, Jr., and in 181 2 James Cronk, both residing in the present territory of Newstead. Tonawanda could not boast of a tavern until 181 1, when one was opened by Henry Anguish. Buffalo gained several important accessions to its business and social circles, during the period under consideration. Grosvenor & Heacock established themselves as merchants on Main street. The senior member of the firm was Abel M. Grosvenor, a portly and pleasant middle-aged gentleman, who died during the war. The junior partner, Reuben B. Heacock, long one of the best-known citizens of Buffalo, was then a tall, slender young man of twenty-two, with keen features and Roman nose, manifesting his intense energy in every movement as he strode through the streets of the nascent emporium. Messrs. Stocking & Bull, in 181 1, built the first hat-factory in Buffalo, on Onondaga (Washington) street, near the corner of Swan. Mr. Stocking devoted himself with especial earnestness to the support of public worship and Sunday-schools, seconding the efforts of Deacon Callender and Gen. Elijah Holt, the latter of whom came about the same time. Charles Townsend and George Coit, two young men of Con- necticut, also came to Buffalo at this time, and established the long-celebrated firm of Townsend & Coit. They were reputed wealthy when they came, (something very unusual for Buffalo- nians of that era,) and it is asserted that they brought with them, via Oswego and Lewiston, twenty tons of goods. Heman B. Potter was a young lawyer who began, in 181 1, a legal career which continued in Buffalo for nearly half a century. A man of medium size, regular features and calm demeanor, 194 "THE BRICK TAVKRN OX TIIK HILL." Mr. Potter was less self-assertive than the inajorit}- of successful pioneers, yet he remained so long in active life that he was, more than any other one man, the connecting link between the forest- shaded hamlet and the swarming metropolis. In i8i I William Hodge built a large brick hotel where is now the corner of Main and Utica streets. It was nearly if not quite the first of that material in the county, and was soon widely known as the " brick tavern on the hill." Mr. H. had also be- come the proprietor of the first nursery in the county, and had first started the manufacture of fanning-mills. It is a good illustration of pioneer energy that, in order to learn how to make the screens, Mr. Hodge went on foot to a place near Utica, paid a man to teach him the desired secret, and then re- turned on foot to Buff"aIo to put it in use. In the forepart of this year the President, being authorized by Congress, located the port of entry for the district of Buffalo Creek at Black Rock, from the first of April to the first of De- cember in each year, and at "Buffaloe" the rest of the time. It is difficult to see why the office should have been moved twice a year merely to make " Buffaloe " a port of entry during the four months when there were no entries. The year i8ii was also marked by the establishment of Mr. Jabez B. Hyde as the first school-teacher among the Senecas. He was sent by the New York Missionary Society. A minister of the gospel was sent at the same time, but was rejected by the chiefs, while the teacher was invited to remain. But the most important event in the eye of the historian was the establishment of the first newspaper in Erie count)', the Buffalo Gazette ; the initial number of which was issued on the third day of October, i8ii, by Messrs Smith H. and Hezekiah A. Salisbury. The former was the editor. For the time previous to its appearance the student of local history must depend on the memory of a few aged persons, eked out by a very small number of scattering records. But, fortunately, a tolerably complete file of the Gazette has been preserved through all the vicissitudes of sixty-five years, and is now in the possession of the Young Men's Association of Buf- falo. By carefully studying its columns, especially the adver- tisements, one can form a very fair idea of the progress of the THE FIRST NEWSPAPER. 195 count}'. The first number ha.s been .stolen from the files ; the second, dated October lOth, 1811, remains, the earliest specimen of Erie county journalism. A rough-looking little sheet was this pioneer newspaper of Erie county, printed on coarse, brownish paper, each of the four pages being about twelve inches by twenty. Its price was $2.50 per year if left weekly at doors ; $2.00 if taken at the office or sent by mail. The price seems large for a sheet of those dimensions, but the advertising rates were certainly low enough. A " square " was inserted three weeks for $1.00, and twenty-five cents was charged for each subsequent insertion. There must have been a large mail business done in this vicinity, or a very slow delivery ; as the first number of the Gazette contained an advertisement of a hundred and fifty- seven letters remaining in the post-office at Buffalo Creek. Five of them were directed to women, whose names I give as speci- mens of the feminine nomenclature of that day: Susan Daven- port, Sarah Goosbeck, Susannah McConnel, Nancy Tuck, Lu- cinda Olmsted. Not one ending in "ie!" With their printing office the Salisburys carried on the first Buffalo book-store, and kept a catalogue of their books con- stantly displayed in their paper. It may give an idea of the literary taste of that era to observe that one of those lists con- tains the names of seventeen books on law, fourteen on medicine, fifty-four on religious subjects, fifty-four on history, poetry and philosophy, and only eleven novels ! One of the first numbers chronicles the arrival of the schooner Salina, Daniel Robbins master, with a cargo of " Furr " esti- mated at a hundred and fifty thousand dollars — an estimate which I fear did not hold out. " Furr" was the invariable spell- ing of the covering of the beaver and otter, while a wielder of the needle was sometimes denominated a " tailor," and some- times a " ta}'lor." Militia affairs evidently received considerable attention, as the only advertisement of blanks was one of "Sergeants' Warrants, Captains' Orders to Sergeants, Notices to Warn Men to Parade," &c., &c. Captains were numerous, and were not always blessed with high scholastic acquirements, as is shown by the following 196 BUFFALO VS. BUFFALO-E. communication from one t;allant chieftain to anotlicr, which somehow fouiul its way into the Ga/ette, minus the names: WilHnk, November the 10, 181 1. "Capt . Sir this day Mr. inform mee that he was not able to do mihterry duty, and wish you not to fleet a fine on him ef T had a non his sttuation i shod not returned him this is from yr. frend. , Capt. "Wilhnk," gives but a shght idea of the locahty, as the whole south part of the county was still called by that name. Municipal towns were so large that survey townships were frequently used for description, Thus Daniel Wood advertised a watch left at his house "in the 6th Town, 8th Range ;" that is in the present town of Collins. Buffalo, which had originally been spelled by every one with a final " e," had latterly, in accordance with the growing distaste for superfluous letters, been frequently used without it, but the older form was still common. lulitor Salisbur\' set himself to complete the reformation, always omitting the " e " himself, and ridiculing its use by others. He declared that it made a word of four syllables, " Buf-fa-lo-e." Said he : " Buf, there's your Buf; fa, there's your Huffa; lo, there's \'our Buffalo ; e, there's your Buff"alo-e." In the Gazette of the 29th of December, 181 1, he published a report of a supposed lawsuit in the " Court of People's Bench of Buffalo-e," in which " Ety Mol O Gist" was plaintiff, and " General Opinion " was defendant. The following is an extract from the proceedings : " This was an action brought before the court for the purloin- ing the fifth letter of the alphabet, and clapping it on the end of the name Buffalo. . . . The plaintiff now proceeded, after some pertinent remarks to the court, in which he pointed out the enormity of the offense of General Opinion, to call his witnesses. Several dictionaries were brought forth and exam- ined, who testified, from Dr. Johnson down to Noah Webster, that there was no such character as "e" in the town of J^uffalo. " General Use, who was subpoenaed by both parties, was qual- ified. He said he did not hesitate to state to the court that he had been in the constant practice of dating his notes, receipts, and memoranda with " Buffaloe," but that since the establish- ment of a public paper he should accommodate it to his con- .science to cut it short and dock off the final ' e.' " * * * SCARCITY OF LOCAL ITEMS. 197 The editor's efforts accelerated the popular tendency, and the "e" was soon generally abandoned, though for many years a few conservative gentlemen continued to date their letters at " Buffaloe." In one of the first numbers of the Gazette was an advertise- ment stating that the new sloop " Friends' Goodwill, of Black Rock," would carry passengers to Detroit for twelve dollars each, and goods for a dollar and a half a barrel. It should be stated that the only way in which any idea of the condition of the village or county can be gained from the Gazette is by examining the advertisements ; for it is very plain that the local reporter was then an unknown functionary, and the voice of the interviewer was never heard in the land. Number after number of the Gazette appeared without a sin- gle local item. Except during the war, such items were exces- sively rare through all the first years of Buffalo journalism, and even when events of decided importance forced recognition they were dismissed with the briefest possible notice. Editorials, also, were extremely rare, though not so much so as locals. Nor, although the paper was small, could the paucity of edi- torial and local matter be attributed chiefly to that cause ; for considerable space was devoted to distant, and especially to foreign, news, and unimportant proclamations of European po- tentates were frequently published entire, while not a word was to be seen about anything occurring within two hundred miles of Buffalo. It is plain that both the reporter who knows everything and the editor who has an opinion about everything remained long undeveloped on the shores of Lake Erie. In one respect, however, the publishers showed a praiseworthy desire to furnish their readers, especially of the fairer sex, with interesting intelligence ; under the proper head there were always several notices of marriage. But as a week frequently passed without a wedding in the vicinity, the columns of the exchanges were apparently ransacked for hymeneal intelligence. The Gazette of December 17, 1811, contains noticesof one marriage in Ontario county, one in Oneida county, two in Connecticut and one in Montreal. iqS abundance of marriagk notices. The selection was usually induced by some peculiarity in name or ay;e, but instead of noticing it among the news items or com- icalities, the oddity was transferred to the regular hymeneal list of Niagara county. Readers in those days might do without their daily murder, but marriages they must have. On one occasion they were amply supplied without resorting to Connecticut or Montreal. The Gazette of Dec. ii, 1811, records the marriage "on Wednesday evening last," in the town of Willink. of Mr. Edward Paine to Miss Phebe Turner, of Mr. Levi Blake to Miss Polly Sanford, and of Mr. Thomas Holmes to Miss Martha Sanford. Failures in business seem to have been quite common in pro- portion to the amount done ; as one paper contains three, and another four notices for insolvent debtors to show cause why they should not be declared bankrupts. Yet it is plain that business was generally flourishing. There were no advertisements for work, but many for workmen. In the course of a few weeks in the fall of 181 1, Tallmadge & Mul- lett advertised for two or three journeymen tailors, John Tower for a journeyman shoemaker, Daniel Lewis for a "Taylor's" ap- prentice and a journeyman "Tailor," Stocking & Bull for three or four journeymen hatters, and Leech & Keep for two or three journeymen blacksmiths, at their shop at Cold Spring, "two miles from the village of Buffalo." Certainly there would have been no bankruptcies had all creditors adopted the generous policy of Lyman Parsons, who advertised his earthenware at Cold Spring, and added : " He requests all those indebted to him, and whose promises have become due, to make payment or fresh promises !" No modern doctor of finance could have been more liberal. The Patent Medicine Man was already an established insti- tution, and M. Daley advertised several unfailing panaceas, their value being attested by certificates as ample, (and as truthful,) as those of the present day. Among the merchants everybody dealt in everything. Na- thaniel Sill & Co. dispensed " fish and cider " at Black Rock. Peter H. Colt, at the same place, dealt in "whisky, gin, buffalo- robes and feathers." Townsend & Coit advertised " linseed oil and new goods " in Buffalo. AN OFFICIAL' IRREC;ULARITY. 199 The original name adopted by the HoUand Company had not yet been utterly discarded. Notice was given that the "Ecclesi- astical Society" would meet "at the school-house in the village of New Amsterdam," and Grosvenor & Heacock advertised goods " at their store in the village of New Amsterdam." Even in those good old times, officials were sometimes guilty of " irregularities," and one of the few local items in the Ga- zette, under the head, "A delinquent and a villain," gave notice that Joseph Alward, who wore the double honors of constable of Willink and carrier of news, had " cleared out for Canada," taking two horses, eight or ten watches and other property. A news-carrier was an important functionary; he was the sole reli- ance of most of the inhabitants for papers and letters — there being but one post-office in the county out of Buffalo, and none south of the reservation. The next week after the disappear- ance of the " delinquent and villain," David Leroy gave notice that he had taken Alward's route, but he soon gave it up for lack of business. Another notice informed the people that a carrier named Paul Drinkwater had judiciously selected one route down the river and another up the lake. A. S. Clarke, postmaster at Clarence, (his store it will be re- membered was in the present town of Newstead,) advertised seven letters detained at his office for Clarence, and fifty for Willink. These latter had to be sent from fifteen to fifty miles by private conveyance. There was still no regular preaching of the gospel in the county. Some steps were taken to that end, but nothing ac- complished before the war. In regard to religion and morality, Buffalo seems to have had a very bad reputation abroad — even worse then it deserved. The Gazette published a letter from a clergyman to " a gentle- man in this village," saying : " From what I had heard, I supposed that the people in gen- eral were so given to dissipation and vice that the preachers of Christianity would find few or no ears to hear : but most agree- ably disappointed was I to find my audiences not only respecta- ble in point of numbers, but solemn, decent, devout and which seemed gladly to hear the word." Notwithstanding this readiness to hear the w^ord, some things. 200 TIIK WAR OP^ SCALPELS. such as lotteries, were tolerated, which would now be looked on with general disfavor. A memorial was presented to the legis- lature, signed by many of the principal citizens of Niagara county, asking for ^15,000 to build a road from the Genesee river to Buffalo, the State to be reimbursed by a lottery. The project was warmly endorsed by the Gazette. At the present day we should at least have morality enough to call the scheme a gift-enterprise. It does not appear to have been adopted. The difficulty of deciding when "doctors disagree," has long been a favorite theme of philosophers, but it was more than usually great at the time and in the locality under considera- tion. The two Chapins, Daniel and Cyrenius, were the leaders of two factions, whose warfare was, as usual, made all the more intense by the small number of the contestants. In November, 181 1, there appeared a call for a meeting of the Medical Society of Niagara County, signed by Asa Coltrin, (part- ner of Dr. Cyrenius,) as secretary. The last of December, Dr. Daniel Chapin also gave notice of the meeting of the Medical Society of Niagara County. In the next number of the Gazette Dr. Cyrenius came to the front with a notice that Dr. Daniel's call was irregular, and that the Medical Society of Niagara County had \x\q\. in November and adjourned to February first. Then Dr. Daniel's society assembled, and its chief made a speech which sounds like a modern statesman's triumphant ex- posure of the wickedness of his political opponents. The rival association was described as making a contemptible display of depravity and weakness, exhibited only to be pitied and de- spised, and as being " a mutilated, ill-starred brat, scotched with the characterestic marks of its empirical accoucheur!" By and by Dr. Cyrenius issued an address, not c^uite so viru- lent, but denouncing the other society as a humbug. He did not state the number of physicians in Niagara county at that time, but said that three years before (1809) there were sixteen. In 18 12 there were probably about two dozen in the present counties of Erie and Niagara, two thirds of them being in the territory of the former. But the\^ had a big enough war for five hundred. Finally the Danielites sued the Cyreniusites for taking a let- ter from the post-office directed to "The Medical Society of Ni- THE MECHANICAL SOCIETY. 201 agara County," and just before the declaration of war the suit was decided in favor of tlie defendants. Then Dr. Josiah Trow- bridge, secretary of the victorious faction, issued a bulletin of triumph in the Gazette, but the din of scalpels was soon extin- guished in the more terrible conflict rapidly hastening to an outbreak. The Free Masons already had an organization in the village, and Western Star lodge gave notice that it would install its officers on the lOth of March, 1812. The first of the many societies organized in Erie county by artisans was called the Mechanical Society, and was formed b}' the master mechanics of Buffalo on the 26th of March. Joseph Bull (hatter) was elected president, Henry M. Camp- bell (also a hatter) and John Mullett (tailor), vice-presidents ; with Robert Kaene, Asa Stanard, David Reese (blacksmith), Daniel Lewis (tailor), and Samuel Edsall (tanner), as standing committee. This Mr. Edsall advertised his tannery and shoe shop as " on the Black Rock road, near the village of Buffalo." Considering that it stood at the corner of Niagara and Mohawk streets, it would undoubtedly now be considered as tolerabl}^ near Buffalo. On the 20th day of March, 1812, the gigantic town of Wil- link was seriously reduced by a law erecting the towns of Ham- burg, Eden and Concord. Hamburg contained the present towns of Hamburg and East Hamburg. Eden w^as composed of what is now Boston, Eden, Evans, and part of Brant, and Concord comprised the whole tract afterwards divided into Sar- dinia, Concord, Collins and North Collins — leaving Willink only twelve miles square, embracing Aurora, Wales, Holland and Colden. Besides, Willink and Hamburg nominally extended to the middle of the Buffalo reservation, and Collins covered that part of the Cattaraugus reservation situated in Niagara county. The records of both Hamburg and Eden have been preserved to this day. In the former town the people first met on the 7th of April, 1812, at the house of Jacob Wright. The following officers were elected : David Eddy, supervisor ; Samuel Hawkins, town clerk ; Isaac Chandler, Richard Smith and Nel. Whitticer, assessors ; Abner 14 202 THREE NEW TOWNS. Wilson, constable and collector ; Nathan Clark and Thomas Fish, overseers of the poor; James Browning, John Green and Amasa Smith, commissioners of highways ; Daniel Smith, Gil- bert Wright and Benjamin Henshaw, constables ; Jotham Bcmis and Abner Amsdell, pound-masters. At the same meeting it was voted that last year's supervisor (of Willink) should "discharge our poor debt" by paying the poor-masters the sum of five dollars. As a specimen of cheap work, performed for the people, I have noted that, for making a map of the division of the town, Cotton Fletcher was voted the sum of one dollar. The meeting adjourned till the next day when, with the new supervisor acting as "moderator," the people voted "that hogs should remain as the statute law directs." Also that five dollars per head should be paid for wolves and panthers. The record shows that there were twenty-one road districts at the organ- ization of the town. It does not appear that Eden was organized until the next year. For convenience, however, that organization is given here. Joseph Yaw was "moderator" of the meeting. John C. Twining was elected supervisor ; John March, town clerk ; Amos Smith, David Corbin and John Hill, assessors ; Charles John- son, Calvin Doolittle, and Richard Berry, Jr., commissioners of highways; Lemuel Parmalee, collector; John Conant and Silas Este, constables ; John Welch and Asa Cary, poor-masters. There were thirteen road districts. It is said that John Hill selected the name of Eden for the new town, on account of the paradisaical look which the country around Eden Center bore to his eye. For some unknown rea- son it was almost universally spelled "Edon" for many years, not only in writing, but when printed in the Gazette. The records of Concord having been burned, its early organ- ization cannot be given. During all this time there was a constant and increasing fer- ment regarding war and politics. The growing dissatisfaction of the government and a majority of the people of the United States with the government of Great Britain, on account of her disregard of neutral rights in the contest with Napoleon, had at length reached the verge of war, and the denunciations of that A FEDERAL COMMITTEE. 203 power in Congress, in State legislatures, in the press and in pub- lic meetings were constantly becoming more bitter. While this was the sentiment of the ruling party (that is the Democratic or Republican, for it went by both names,) the Federalists, who constituted a large and influential minority, opposed a war with England, asked for further negotiation, and met the Democratic denunciations of that country with still more bitter attacks on Napoleon, whom they accused the Republicans of favoring. In February, Congress passed a law to organize an army of twenty-five thousand men. Shortly after, Daniel D. Tompkins, the republican governor of New York, made a speech to the legislature, advising that the State prepare for the coming contest. This county up to that time had been decidedly Federal. Ebenezer Walden was the Federal member of assembly for the counties of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. In April, Abel M. Grosvenor was nominated for the assembly by a meeting of the Federalists, or as they termed themselves "Fed- eral Republicans." At the same meeting a large committee was appointed, and, as it is to be presumed that the men selected w'ere somewhat influential members of their party in that day, I transcribe a list of those residing in the present county of Erie : Town of Buffalo — Nathaniel Sill, Joshua Gillett, Benjamin Caryl, James Beard, Oilman Folsom, Wm. B. Grant, John Rus- sell, Daniel Lewis, Rowland Cotton, David Reese, Elisha Ensign, S. H. Salisbury, Ransom Harmon, Frederick House, Guy J. Atkins, Samuel Lasuer, John Duer, John Watkins, R. Grosvenor Wheeler, Fred. Buck, Henry Anguish, Nehemiah Seeley, Henry Doney, Solomon Eldridge and Holden Allen. Clarence — Henry Johnson, Asa Fields, James Powers, James S. Youngs, William Baker, Archibald Black, John Stranahan, Josiah Wheeler, G. Stranahan, Benjamin O. Bivins, John Peck and Jonathan Barrett. Willink — Abel Fuller, Ebenezer Holmes, John McKeen, San- ford G. Colvin, Levi Blake, Ephraim Woodruff", Daniel Haskell, Samuel Merriam, Dr. John Watson and John Gaylord, Jr. Hamburg — Seth Abbott, Joseph Browning, William Coltrin, Ebenezer Goodrich, Cotton Fletcher, John Green, Samuel Ab- bott, Benjamin Enos, Pardon Pierce. 204 A REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE. Eden — Charles Johnson, Luther Hibbard, Dorastus Hatch, Dr. John March, Job Palmer, Samuel Tubbs. Concord — Joseph Hanchett, Solomon Fields, Samuel Cooper, Stephen Lapham, Gideon Lapham, Gideon Parsons, William S. Sweet. As a companion to the Federal committee, I insert here the names of the members of a similar one composed of Demo- cratic Republicans, though not appointed till a year or so later. They were Nathaniel Henshaw, Ebenezer Johnson, Pliny A. Field, William Best, Louis Le Couteulx and John Sample of Buffalo; Otis R. Hopkins, Samuel Hill, Jr., Daniel Rawson, James Baldwin, Daniel McCleary, Oliver Standard and Moses Fenno, of Clarence ; David Eddy, Richard .Smith, Samuel Haw- kins, Giles Sage, William Warriner, Joseph Albert and Zcnas Smith, of Hamburg; Elias Osborn, Israel Phelps, Jr., Daniel Thurston, Jr., William Warren, James M. Stevens, John Car- penter and Joshua Henshaw, of Willink ; Christopher Stone, Benjamin Tubbs, Gideon Dudley, Amos Smith and Joseph Thorn, of Eden ; and Rufus Eaton, Frederick Richmond, Allen King, Benjamin Gardner and Isaac Knox, of Concord. Jonas Williams, the founder of Williamsville, was the Repub- lican candidate for the assembly. About the same time Asa Ransom was again appointed sheriff; Joseph Landon, Henry Brothers and Samuel' Hill, Jr., coroners ; Samuel Tupper and David Eddy, judges and justices; and Elias Osborne, then of Willink, justice of the peace. Shortly afterwards, Samuel Tupper, of Buffalo, was appointed first judge in place of Judge Porter, resigned. Already there were fears of Indian assault. It was reported that a body of British and Indians were assembled at Newark, to make a descent on the people on this side. A public meet- ino- was held at Cook's tavern, in Buffalo, at which the state- ment was declared untrue. liarly in May a lieutenant of the United States army adver- tised for recruits at Buffalo, offering those who enlisted for five years a hundred and sixty acres of land, three months' extra pay, and a bounty of sixteen dollars. The amount of bounty will not appear extravagant to modern readers. Election was held on the I2th of May, and the approach of MILITIA OFFICERS. 205 war had evidently caused a great change in the strength of the two parties. The votes for member of assembly show at once the ascendency suddenly gained by the Democrats, and the comparative population of the several towns. For Grosvenor, Federal, Willink gave 71 votes, Hamburg 47, Eden 41, Concord S^, Clarence 72, Buffalo 123 ; total, 387. For Williams, Repub- lican, Willink gave 114, Hamburg 110, Eden 46, Concord 50, Clarence 177, Buffalo 112; total, 609. Archibald S. Clarke was elected State senator, being the first citizen of Erie county to hold that offfce, as he had been the first assemblyman and first surrogate. The congressmen chosen for this district were both outside of Niagara county. The militia were being prepared for war, at least to the ex- tent of being amply provided with officers. In Lt.-Col. Chap- man's regiment. Dr. Ebenezer Johnson was appointed " sur- geon's mate," (assistant surgeon he would now be called ;) Abiel Gardner and Ezekiel Sheldon, lieutenants ; Oziel Smith, pay- master; John Hersey and Samuel Edsall, ensigns. In Lt.-Col. Warren's regiment, Adoniram Eldridge, Charles Johnson, John Coon, Daniel Haskill, Benjamin Gardner and John Russell were appointed captains ; Innis B. Palmer, Isaac Phelps, Timothy P\iller, Benjamin I. Clough, Gideon Person, Jr., Frederick Richmond and Varnum Kenyon, lieutenants ; William Warriner, surgeon; Stephen Kinney, paymaster; Elihu Rice, Samuel Cochrane, Benjamin Douglass, Lyman Blackmar and Oliver Blezeo, ensigns. Scarcely a day passed that rumors of Indian outrages did not startle the inhabitants of Niagara county, who looked with anx- ious eyes on the half-tamed Iroquois in their midst, man\- of whom had once bathed their hands in American blood. The rumors were all false, but the terror they inspired was none the less real. Congress passed an act calling out a hundred thousand mili- tia, (thirteen thousand five hundred of whom were from New York,) and the news was followed quickly by an order detailing two hundred and forty men from Hopkins' brigade, for imme- diate service. On the 17th of May, Col. Swift, of Ontario county, arrived at Buffalo to assume command on the frontier. On the 1 8th, the first detachment of militia marched through 206 PREPARATION'S FOR WAR. that village on their way to Lewiston. They were from the south towns, and were commanded by Major Benj. Whaley. On the 26th, Superintendent Granger, with the interpreters Jones and Parrish, held a council with the chiefs of the Six Na- tions in the United States. Mr. Granger did not seek to enlist their services, such not being the policy of the government, but urged them to remain neutral. To this they agreed, but said they would send a delegation to consult their brethren in Canada. Meanwhile, the declaration of war was under earnest discus- sion in Congress. On the 23d of June, Col. Swift, whose headquarters were at Black Rock, was in command of six hundred militia, besides which there was a small garrison of regulars at Fort Niagara. There was no artillery, except at the fort. The preparations for war on the other side were somewhat better, there being six or seven hundred British regulars along the Niagara, and a hundred pieces of artillery. The excitement grew more intense every hour. Reckless men on either shore fired across the river " for fun," their shots were returned, and the seething materials almost sprang into flame by spontane- ous combustion. The morning of the 26th of June came. A small vessel, loaded with salt, which had just left Black Rock, was noticed entering Lake Erie by some- of the citizens of Buffalo, and presently a British armed vessel from Ft. Erie was seen making its way toward the American ship. The latter was soon over- taken and boarded, and then both vessels turned their prows toward the British stronghold. There could be but one explanation of this — the vessel was captured — and the news of war spread with lightning-like rapid- ity among the inhabitants of the little frontier village. All doubt was dispelled a few hours later by an express-rider from the East, bearing the l^resident's proclamation of ^ar. The Can- adians had received the earliest news by reason of John Jacob Astor's sending a fast express to Oueenston, twelve hours ahead of the government riders, to warn his agents there. The War of 18 12 had be' way which did not involve the risk of running against British bat- talions, while chasing Mohawks. Captain Worth, (afterwards th celebrated General Worth,) then a member of Scott's staff, was, like his chief, wounded at Lundy's Lane. His affable manners and dashing valor had made him a great favorite of the Indians, and when he was brought wounded to Landon's hotel they vied with each other in rendering him attention. The veteran Far- mer's Brother, in particular, was in the habit of watching for hours by the captain's bedside. On the 31st of July a Chippewa Indian came across the river, claiming to be a deserter. Individual desertion is a very un- common crime among Indians, (though tribes sometimes change sides in a body,) and his story was received w^ith suspicion by the Senecas. Nevertheless he was allowed to circulate freely among them, and a bottle of whisky being procured he was in- vited to share it. Warmed by the vivifying fluid, the Senecas began recounting their valiant deeds, especially boasting of the red-coats and British Indians they had slain at Chippewa. The new comer, forgetful of the part he had assumed, began to brag of the great deeds he had done, holding up his fingers to indicate how many Yankees and Yankee Indians he had made to bite the dust, especially mentioning " Twenty Canoes," a noted chief and friend 28o AN INDIAN COURT-MARTIAL. of r^irmer's Brother. The wrathful Senecas at once gathered around and denounced him as a sp)-. It is said, I know not how truly, that he then confessed that he had come in that capacity. They were on Main street, close to Landon's, and the angry altercation reached the ears of Farmer's Brother, who was then at the bedside of Captain Worth. The old chief immediately joined the assemblage, and inquired the cause. He was told of the 'pretended deserter's offense, and particularly of his boasting over the slaughter of " Twenty Canoes." By this time Capt. Pollard, Major Berry and other chiefs had joined the crowd, and several whites were standing by as spectators. On learning the facts, Farmer's Brother grasped his war-club, walked up to the unfortunate Chippewa, and felled him to the earth with a blow which broke the club into splinters. It was probably a fancy, full-dress war-club, not intended for such severe service. For a moment the Chippewa lay senseless, then suddenly sprang up, with the blood streaming down his face, burst through the crowd of startled Senecas and bounded away. Not a man followed him, but several cried out, (in their own tongue, of course): " Ho ! coward ! You dare not stay and be punished ! Coward I coward !" The Chippewa stopped, slowly retraced his steps into the midst of his enemies, drew his blanket over his head, as Caesar veiled his face with his toga, and lay down beside the wall of one of the burned buildings. A brief consultation took place among the chiefs. Some of the whites who had gathered around manifested a disposition to interfere, but were sternly informed that that was an Indian trial, and the court must not be disturbed. Presently a rifle was handed to P^armer's Brother, who walked up to the recumbent Chippewa and said : "Here are my rifle, my tomahawk, and my scalping-knife ; take your choice by which you will die." The spy muttered his preference for the rifle. "And where will you be shot.^" continued the unconscious imitator of the mercy of Richard the Third. The condemned man put his hand to his heart, the chieftain placed the muzzle "BATTLE OF CONJOCKETY CREEK." 28 1 of his rifle at the point indicated and pulled the trigger. With one convulsive movement the spy expired. Four y^ung Senecas picked up the corpse, carried it to the edge of the wood a quar- ter of a mile east of Main street, flung it down and left it un- buried, to be devoured by the wild animals of the forest. On the other side of the river. General Drummond's army for two weeks steadily worked their way toward the American defenses. These consisted principally of two stone mess-houses and a bastion, known as " Old Fort Erie," a short distance east of the river bank, and a natural mound, half a mile farther south and near the lake, which was surmounted with breastworks and cannon and called "Towson's Battery." Between the old fort and the battery ran a parapet, and another from the old fort eastward to the river. On both the north and west a dense forest came within sixty rods of the American works. The British erected batteries in the woods on the north, each one farther south than its predecessor, and then in the night chopped out openings through which their cannon could play on our works. At this time the commander at Fort Erie was in the habit of sending across a battalion of regular riflemen every night, to guard the bridge over Scajaquada creek, who returned each morning to the fort. About the loth of August a heavy British force crossed the river at night, at some point below the Sca- jaquada, and just before daylight they attempted to force their way across the latter stream. Their objective point was doubt- less the public stores at Black Rock and Buffalo. Being opposed by the riflemen before mentioned, under Ma- jor Lodowick Morgan, there ensued a fight of some importance, of which old men sometimes speak as the "Battle of Conjockety Creek," but of which I have found no printed record. Even the Buffalo Gazette of the day was silent regarding it, though it afterwards alluded to Major Morgan as "the hero of Con- jockety." The planks of the bridge had been taken up, and the riflemen lay in wait on the south side. When the enemy's column came up, Morgan's men opened a destructive fire. The English pressed forward so boldly that some of them, when shot, fell into the creek and were swept down the Niagara. They were compelled 19 282 STORMING OF FORT ERIE. to fall back, but again and again they repeated the attempt, and every time they were repulsed with loss. A body of militia, under Colonels Swift and Warren, were placed on the right of the regulars, and prevented the enemy from crossing farther up the creek. Several deserters came over to our forces, having thrown away their weapons and taken off their red coats, which they carried rolled up under their arms. They reported the enemy's force at seventeen hundred, but that was probably an exaggeration. After a conflict lasting several hours the enemy retreated, having suffered severely in the fight. The Americans had eight men wounded. Early in the morning of the 15th of August, 18 14, the Eng- lish attempted to carry Fort Erie by storm, under cover of the darkness. At half past two o'clock, a column of a thousand to fifteen hundred men moved from the woods on the west against Towson's battery. Though received with a terrific fire they pressed forward, but were at length stopped within a few yards of the American lines. They retreated in confusion, and no further attempt was made at that point. Notwithstanding the strength of this attack it was perhaps partly in the nature of a feint, for immediately afterwards two other columns issued from the forest on the north. One sought to force its way up along the river bank, but was easily repulsed. The- other, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, advanced against the main bastion. It was defended by several heavy guns and field-pieces, by the Ninth United States infantry, and by one company each of New York and Pennsylvania volunteers. Received with a withering discharge of cannon and musketry, Drummond's right and left were driven back. His center, how- ever, ascended the parapet, but were finally repulsed with dread- ful carnage. Again Drummond led his men to the charge and again they were repulsed. A third time the undaunted Englishmen advanced over ground strewn thick with the bodies of their brethren, in the face of a sheet of flame from the walls of the bastion, and a third time they were driven back with terrible loss. This would have sat- isfied most men of any nation, and one cannot refrain from a THE EXPLOSION. 283 tribute to English valor of the most desperate kind, when he learns that Drummond again rallied his men, led them a fourth time over that pathway of death, .mounted the parapet in spite of the volleying flames which enveloped it, and actually captured the bastion at the point of the bayonet. Many American ofificers were killed in this terrible struggle. Drummond was as fierce as he was brave, and was frequently heard crying to his men, "Give the damned Yankees no quar- ter." But even in the moment of apparent victory he met his fate — a shot from one of the last of the retreating Americans laying him dead upon the ground. Reinforcements were promptly sent to the endangered locality by Gens. Ripley and Porter. A detachment of riflemen attacked the British in the bastion but were repulsed. Another and larger force repeated the attack, but also failed. The Americans prepared for a third charge, and two batteries of artillery were playing upon the heroic band of Britons. Sud- denly the whole scene was lighted up by a vast column of flame, the earth shook to the water's edge, the ear was deafened by a fearful sound which reechoed far over the river. A large amount of cartridges, stored in one of the mess-houses adjoining the bastion, had been reached by a cannon-ball and exploded. One instant the fortress, the forest, the river, the dead, the dying and the maddened living, were revealed by that fearful glare — the next all was enveloped in darkness, while the shrieks of hun- dreds of Britons, in more terrible agony than even the soldier often suffers, pierced the murky and sulphurous air. The Americans saw their opportunity and redoubled the fire of their artillery. For a few moments the conquerors of the bastion maintained their position, but half their number, includ- ing most of their officers, were killed or wounded, their com- mander was slain, and they were dazed and overwhelmed by the calamity that had so unexpectedly befallen them. After a few volleys they fled in utter confusion to the friendly forest. As they went out of the bastion the Americans dashed in, snatching a hundred and eighty-six prisoners from the rear of the flying foe. Besides these there remained on the ground they had so valiantly contested two hundred and twenty-one English dead, and a hundred and seventy-four wounded, nearly 284 STARTLED BUFFALONIANS. all in and around that single bastion. Besides, there were the wounded who were carried away by their comrades, including nearly all who fell in the other two columns. The Americans had twenty-six killed and ninety-two wounded. Seldom has there been a more gallant attack, and seldom a more disastrous repulse. During the fight the most intense anxiety prevailed on this side. The tremendous cannonade a little after midnight told plainly enough that an attack was being made. Nearly every human being who resided among the ruins of Buffalo and Black Rock, and many in the country around, were up and watching. All expected that if the fort should be captured the enemy would immediately cross, and the horrors of the previous winter would be repeated. Many packed up and prepared for instant flight. When the explosion came, the shock startled even the war- seasoned inhabitants of Buffalo. Some thought the British had captured the fort and blown it up, others imagined that the Am- ericans had penetrated to the British camp and blown that up ; and all awaited the coming of morn with nerves strung to their utmost tension. It was soon daylight, when boats crossed the river from the fort, and the news of another American victory was soon scattered far and wide through the country. A day or two afterwards the wounded prisoners were sent to the hospital at Williamsville, and the unwounded to the depot of prisoners near Albany. Mr. William Hodge relates that when the wagons filled with blistered, blackened men halted near his father's house, they begged for liquor to drown their pain, but some of the unhurt, who marched on foot, were saucy enough. Looking at the brick house rising on the ruins of the former one, they declared they would burn it again within a year. They could not, however, have been very anxious to escape, for they were escorted by only a very small guard of militia. The late James W'ood, of Wales, was one of the guard. Many of the prisoners were Highlanders, of the Glengarry regiment. Having failed to carry the fort by assault, the British settled down to a regular siege. Closer and closer their lines were drawn and their batteries erected, the dense forest affording every facility for uninterrupted approach. Reinforcements con- VOLUNTEERS TO THE FRONT. 285 stantly arrived at the I'^nglish camp, while not a sohtary regular soldier was added to the constantly diminishing force of the Americans. By the latter part of August their case had become so desperate that Gov. Tompkins called out all the militia west of the Genesee, en masse, and ordered them to Buffalo. They are said by Turner to have responded with great alacrity. Arriving at Buffalo, the officers were first assembled, and Gen. Porter called on them to volunteer to cross the river. There was considerable hanging back, but the general made another speech, and under his stinging words most of the officers volun- teered. The men were then called on to follow their example, and a force of about fifteen hundred was raised. The 48th regiment furnished one company. Col. Warren volunteered and crossed the river, but was sent back with other supernumerary officers, and placed in command of the militia remaining at Buffalo. The volunteers were conveyed across the river at night, about the loth of September, and encamped on the lake shore above Towson's battery, behind a sod breast-work hastily erected by themselves. They were commanded by General Porter, who bivouacked in their midst, under whom was General Daniel Davis, of Le Roy. General Brown had resumed command of the whole American force. At this time the enemy was divided into three brigades of fourteen or fifteen hundred men each, one of which was kept on duty in their batteries every three days, while the other two remained at the main camp, on a farm a mile and a half west of the fort. Immediately after the arrival of the volunteers, a plan was concerted to break in on the enemy's operations by a sortie. The British had opened two batteries, and were nearly ready to unmask another, still nearer and in a more dangerous position. This was called "Battery No. Three," the one next north "No. Two," and the farthest one "No. One." It was determined to make an attack on the 17th of September, before Battery No. Three could be completed. On the 1 6th, Majors Eraser and Riddle, both officers of the regular army acting as aids to General Porter, each followed by a hundred men, fifty of each party being armed and fifty pro- 286 THE SORTIE. vided with axes, proceeded from the camp of the vokinteers, by a circuitous route through the woods, to within a short distance of Battery No. Three. Thence each detachment cut out the un- derbrush so as to make a track back to camp over the swampy ground, curving where necessary to avoid the most miry places. The work was accomph'shed without the British having the sHghtest suspicion of what was going on. This was the most difficult part of the whole enterprise, and its being accom- plished without the enemy's hearing it must be partly attributed to good fortune. In the forenoon of the i/th the whole of the volunteers were paraded, the enterprise was revealed to them, and a hand-bill was read, announcing the glorious victories won on Lake Cham- plain and at Plattsburg a few days before. The news was joy- fully received and the sortie enthusiastically welcomed. The volunteers not being uniformed, every one was required to lay aside his hat or cap and wear on his head a red handkerchief, or a piece of red cloth which was furnished. Not an officer nor man wore any other head-gear, except General Porter. At noon that commander led forth the principal attacking body from the volunteer camp. The advance consisted of two hundred volunteers under Colonel Gibson. Behind them came the column designed for storming the batteries, composed of four hundred regulars followed by five hundred volunteers, all commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Wood. These took the right hand track cut out the day before. Another column, of nearly the same strength, mostly volunteers, under General Davis, intended to hold the enemy's reinforcements in check and co- operate in the attack, took the left hand road. At the same time a body of regulars, under General Miller, was concealed in a ravine near the northwest corner of the in- trenchments, prepared to attack in front at the proper time. The rest of the troops were held in reserve under General Ripley. Just after the main column started it began to rain, and con- tinued to do so throughout the afternoon. The march was necessarily slow along the swampy, winding pathway, and had it not been for the underbrushed tracks the columns would probably have lost their way or been delayed till nightfall. BRILLIANT SUCCESS. 28/ i\t nearly three o'clock Porter's command arrived at the end of the track, within a few rods of Battery No. Three, entirely unsuspected by its occupants. The final arrangements being- made, they mov^ed on, and in a few moments emerged upon the astonished workers and their guard. With a tremendous cheer, which was distinctly heard across the river, the men rushed for- ward, and the whole force in the battery, thoroughly surprised and overwhelmed by numbers, at once surrendered, without hardly firing a shot. This attack was the signal for the advance of Miller's regu- lars, who sprang out of their ravine and hurried forward, direct- ing their steps toward Battery No. Two. Leaving a detachment to spike and dismount the captured cannon, both of Porter's columns dashed forward toward the same object, Gen. Davis leading his volunteers and cooperating closely with Wood. They arrived at the same time as Miller. They were received with a heavy fire, but the three commands combined and car- ried the battery at the point of the bayonet. Leaving another party to spike and dismount cannon, the united force pressed forward toward Battery No. One. But by this time the whole British army was alarmed, and reinforce- ments were rapidly arriving. Nevertheless the Americans at- tacked and captured Battery No. One, after a severe conflict. How gallantly they were led is shown by the fact that all of Porter's principal commanders were shot down — Gibson at Battery No. Two, Wood while approaching No. One, and Davis while gallantly mounting a parapet between the two batteries at the head of his men. In the last struggle, too, Gen. Porter himself was slightly wounded by a sword-cut on the hand, and temporarily taken prisoner, but was immediately rescued by his own men. Of course, in a sortie the assailants are not expected to hold the conquered ground. The work in this case had been as completely done as in any sortie ever made, and after Batter}- No. One had been captured a retreat was ordered to the fort, where the victorious troops arrived just before sunset. The loss of the Americans was seventy-nine killed and two hundred and fourteen wounded ; very few, if any, captured. Four hundred British were taken prisoners, a large number 288 THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. killed and wounded, and what was far more important all the re- sults of nearly two months' labor were entirely overthrown. So completely were their plans destroyed by this_brilliant assault that only four days afterwards Gen. Drummond raised the siege, and retired down the Niagara. After the enemy retreated the volunteers were dismissed with the thanks of their commanders, having saved the American army from losing its last hold on the western side of the Niagara. The relief of Fort Erie was one of the most skillfully planned and gallantly executed sorties ever made. Gen. Napier, the celebrated British soldier and military historian, mentions it as one of the very few cases in which a single sortie had compelled the raising of a siege. It was also the first really important service performed by the kind of soldier whose renown has since become world-wide, the American volunteer. The previous efforts of the volunteers had been very desultory, and, though often showing distinguished courage, they had not before borne a principal part in any bat- tle. At this sortie, however, they were the chief actors, and then began that long series of brilliant services so well known to every American. A few months later the battle of New Or- leans was won by their valor. During the Mexican war the sys- tem of volunteering was thoroughly matured, and during the war for the Union the worth of the American volunteer was tested on a hundred fields. Very high credit was given to General Porter, both for his eloquence in engaging the volunteers and his skill and valor in leading them. The press sounded his praises, the citizens of Batavia tendered him a dinner, the governor bre\'ctcd him a major-general, and Congress voted him a gold medal — he being, I think, the only officer of volunteers to whom that honor was awarded during the war of 1812. These guerdons were justly his due on account of the distin- guished services then known to the public. In addition, there is little doubt that he is entitled to the credit of originating and planning the sortie of Fort Erie. For several days previous he had been holding frequent interviews with General Brown, and also with two officers of engineers, the object of which was con- THE PIONEER OF THE VOLUNTEER SYSTEM. 289 cealed from his staff. He afterwards informed Col. Wm. A. Bird that the secret interviews with General Brown and the en- gineer officers were for the purpose of planning the sortie, and that Brown hesitated and requested Porter to draw a plan in writing, which he did, leaving the paper with Brown. It is certain that it was Porter's aides who superintended the cutting out of the roads over which the main columns of attack passed, and it was Porter who was chosen to command that force, though composed of both regulars and volunteers, and though there were two or more regular generals under Brown at the fort. There was no probable reason why he should have been charged with the execution of the attack, except because he had planned it. Of course it was sanctioned by Brown, and the latter is fairly entitled to the credit belonging to every commander un- der whose orders a successful movement is carried out, but there is also especial credit due to the originator of a good plan, and I have little doubt that in this case that honor belongs to Peter B. Porter. But the much higher honor is his of being the first distin- guished leader of American volunteers against a disciplined foe. If he cannot be called the father of -the v^olunteer system, he was certainly its principal pioneer. The raising of the siege of Fort Erie was substantially the close of the war on the Niagara frontier. A few unimportant skirmishes took place, but nothing that need be recorded here. All the troops except a small guard were w^ithdrawn from Fort Erie to Buffalo. It was known during the winter that commis- sioners were trying to negotiate a peace at Ghent, and there was a universal desire for their success. In this vicinity, at least, the people had had enough of the glories of war. On the 15th of January, 1815, the news of the victory of New Orleans was announced in an extra of the Buffalo Gazette, but although it occasioned general rejoicing, yet the delight was by no means so great as when, a week later, the people of the ravaged frontier were informed of the signing of the treaty of Ghent. Post-riders as they delivered letters, doctors as they visited their patients, ministers as they journeyed to meet their backwoods congregations, spread everywhere the welcome news of peace. 290 PEACE AND GLADNESS. Gen. Nott, in his reminiscences, relates that the first sermon in Sardinia was preached at his house by " Father Spencer," early in 1 8 1 5. There was a large gathering. The people had heard that the good missionary had a newspaper announcing the conclusion of peace, and they were, most of them, probably more anxious to have their hopes in that respect confirmed than for aught else. Father Spencer was not disposed to tantalize them, and imme- diately on rising to begin the services he took the paper from his pocket, saying, " I bring you news of peace." He then read the official announcement, and it may be presumed that the grat- ified congregation afterwards listened all the more earnestly to the news of divine peace which it was the minister's especial province to deliver. In a very brief time the glad tidings penetrated to the most secluded cabins in the county, and all the people turned with joyful anticipations to the half-suspended pursuits of peaceful hfe. THE SITUATION. 29I CHAPTER XXVII. 1815 AND 1816. The Situation. — Beginnings of Villages. — General Porter. — A. H. Tracy. — Sam- uel Wilkeson. — Dr. Marshall. — Another Newspaper. — New Officials. — First Murder Trial. — Reese and Young King. — An "Angel of Death." — The Moral Society. — Marine Intelligence. — Buffalo Business. — Williamsville. — Alden. — Willink. — An Unpleasant Meeting. — Cheap Money. — Holland Mills. — Basswood Sugar. — Wright's Corners. — Duplicate "Smith's Mills." — Hill's Corners. — "Fiddler's Green." — "The Old Court House." — -"The Man who Knows all the World." — Civil and Military Dignitaries. — Lake Cargoes. — ■ "Grand Canal" Preliminaries. — Bank of Niagara. — Marshal Grouchy. — Red Jacket on Etiquette. — " The Cold Summer." — The Consequences. — A Mighty Hunter. — A Fruitless Sacrifice. — Asa Warren. It is needless to give a resume of the condition of Erie county at tlie close of the war of 18 12. It was just where it was at the beginning of that contest, except that Buffalo and Black Rock had been burned, and that here and there a pioneer had abandoned his little clearing. No new business had been devel- oped anywhere, hardly a solitary new settler had taken up his abode in the county, and those already there had been so har- rassed by Indian alarms and militia drafts that they had ex- tended but very little the clearings which existed at the begin- ning of the war. Immediately after the conclusion of peace, however, the long restrained tide again flowed westward, and for a while emigrants poured on to the Holland Purchase more rapidly than ever. It will of course be impracticable, henceforth, to give atten- tion to the names of individual settlers, to petty officers and to minor details, as during the pioneer period before the war. My notices will necessarily be confined to men in more or less pub- lic positions, to the general development of the county, to im- portant events occurring in it, and to the origin of the scores of pleasant villages which now dot its surface. Nearly all of these first began to assume village shape during the ten years next succeeding the war of 18 12. 292 A PATHETIC FAREWELL. WilHamsville and Clarence Hollow were the only places, out- side of Bufifalo and its afterward-absorbed rival, Black Rock, which had advanced far enough to have a grist-mill, saw-mill, tavern and store all at once. The acquisition of the last-named institution, in addition to the other three, might fairly be con- sidered as marking the beginning of a village. Taverns could be started anywhere. A man bought a few gallons of whisky, put up a sign in front of his log house, and forthwith became a hotel-keeper. Saw-mills were not very expensive, and were soon scattered along the numerous streams wherever there was the necessary fall. Grist-mills were more costly, and he was a heavy capitalist who could build one ; still they were so absolutely nec- essary that they were frequently erected very early in the course of settlement, and while residences were still widely scattered. But a store, a place where a real merchant dispensed calico, tea, nails, molasses, ribbons and salt, marked a decided advance in civilization, and almost always was the nucleus of a hamlet which has since developed into a thriving village. A considerable body of troops remained at Bufifalo during the winter, but all were sent away in the spring. With one of the officers. Colonel Snelling, Red Jacket had formed a special intimacy. On his being ordered to Governor's Island in the harbor of New York, the sachem made him the following little speech, as published by a relative of the colonel: " Brother— I hear you are going to a place called Governor's " Island. I hope you will be a governor yourself. I understand " that you white people think children a blessing. I hope you " may have a thousand. And above all, wherever you go, I " hope you may never find whisky above two shillings a quart." ' In March, General Porter was appointed Secretary of State of New York by Governor Tompkins, and resigned his seat in Congress. His new position, and the one which he subsequent- ly accepted, of United States commissioner to settle the north- ern boundary, seem to have had an obscuring effect on his fame; for whereas, not only during but before the war he had been one of the foremost men of the State, and almost of the nation, yet immediately afterwards he nearly disappeared from public sight. Nor did he ever regain the preeminent position he occu- TRACY, WILKESON, ETC. 293 pied at the close of the war, though he afterwards for a brief period held a cabinet office. A young man, destined in a very brief time to acquire a large part of the influence previously wielded by Porter, opened a law- office in Buffalo in the spring of 181 5. This was Albert H. Tracy, then twenty-two years old, a tall, erect, vigorous young man, of brilliant intellect and thorough culture, a clear-headed lawyer and a skillful manager of the political chariot. Another man, who immediately after the war entered on a career of great success and influence, was Samuel VVilkeson. In fact he had made a beginning in Buffalo a little earlier, building a shanty and opening a small mercantile business among the ruins, while war was still thundering around. He was another of the " big men," physically as well as mentally, who built up the prosperity of the emporium of Western New York. Over six feet high, with strong, resolute features, the index of a vigorous mind, always driving straight at his object, tremendous indeed must have been the difficulties which could divert him from it. Dr. John E. Marshall was another influential man who set- tled in Buff"alo in the spring of 1815. Like Wilkeson he came from Chautauqua county, of which he had been the first county clerk, and soon became prominent in his profession, in business and in political life. In April, 181 5, another newspaper, called the Niagara Jour- nal, was established in Buffalo by David M. Day, who remained its editor and proprietor for many years, and wielded a strong influence in the county. The Gazette had leaned toward Fed- eralism ; the Journal was Democratic. The assembly district composed of Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties was now awarded two members, the first ones chosen being Daniel McCleary, of Buffalo, and Elias Osborn, of Clarence. McCleary, also, soon after removed to Clarence. The data are somewhat obscure, but Senator Archibald S. Clarke was elected to fill out Porter's term in Congress, and I think it was at a special election in June, 1815. Mr. Clarke was also appointed county clerk in 1815, and Dr. Johnson sur- rogate. The supervisors chosen in that year were Jonas Harrison, of 294 FIRST MURDER TRIAL. Buffalo ; Otis R. Hopkins, of Clarence ; Lemuel Wasson, of Hamburg ; Lemuel Parmely, of Eden. Concord and Willink unknown. In the latter town Arthur Humphrey and Isaac Phelps, Jr., were supervisors two or three terms each, between its first and second divisions. These were the days when "general trainings" were occasions of great importance, and we must not neglect the military. At the close of the war Gen. Hopkins resigned his brigadier- ship, and in May a new military commission was issued by which Lt.-Col. Wm. Warren was made brigadier-general. Wm. W. Chapin (son of Dr. Daniel) became lieutenant-colonel, with James Cronk and Joseph Wells as majors. Ezekiel Cook was made lieutenant-colonel commanding the regiment in the south- ern towns, its majors being Ezra Nott and Sumner Warren. In June, 1815, there occurred the first murder trial in the present county of Erie, when Charles Thompson and James Peters were convicted of the murder of James Burba. They had both been soldiers in the regular army, and during the war had been sent on a scout with a companion, another soldier, a mile and a half below Scajaquada creek. They had gone three miles below the creek to Burba's residence, committed some depredations, got into a quarrel with the owner, and finally killed him. Their comrade escaped. The case furnishes further evidence of the inattention paid by the journals of that day to local news. To this important trial, at which two men were convicted of a capital crime, the Buffalo Gazette de- voted just seventeen lines! Not a word of the evidence was given. Yet in the same issue that journal gave up a column and a half to the execution of a forger in England. In August the two men were executed in public, as was the rule in that day. The prisoners and scaffold were guarded by several companies of militia, under General Warren. Glezen Fillmore, the young Methodist minister of Clarence, preached the funeral sermon, and was assisted in the last rites to the con- demned by Rev. Miles P. Squier, who, had just settled in Buf- falo as the pastor of the Presbyterian church. On this occasion the Gazette conquered its apparent antipathy to local matters so far as to give a narrative of the crime in forty-six lines, but restricted its description of the execution to sixteen. REESE AND YOUNG KING. 295 Another event, which at an earher day would have set all the people wild with fears of Indian massacre, was a conflict be- tween David Reese, the blacksmith, and the Seneca chief, " Young King." The former had had a quarrel with another Indian, and had struck him. Young King rode up and de- nounced him for doing so. Reese told the chief if he would get off his horse he would serve him the same way. At this Young King dismounted and struck the blacksmith with his club. Reese immediately snatched a scythe from a bystander, and inflicted on the chief's arm a blow so severe that it was found necessary to amputate it. Ten years before this might have brought on a bloody conflict between the Indians and whites, but the latter were now strong enough to protect themselves unless their red neighbors were joined by the English, of which there was at that time no dan- ger. There was, however, some danger to Reese himself from the vengeance of Young King's friends. None of those around Buffalo seem to have made any trouble, but John Jemison, the half-breed son of the celebrated " White Woman," a man of desperate passions, who murdered two of his own brothers, came from the Genesee at the head of a party of Indians, with the avowed intention of killing Reese. Turner, in his " Holland Purchase," mentions having seen Jemison on his way, and de- scribes him as well personifying the ideal Angel of Death. His face was painted a bloody red, long bunches of horsehair, also colored red, hung from his arms, and his appearance betokened a determination to use promptly the war-club and tomahawk which were his only weapons. Reese's friends, however, either secreted or guarded him, and the danger passed by. The dispute with Young King was prob- ably settled by Reese's paying him a sum of money, though all I can learn is that it was referred by the principals to Judge Por- ter, Joshua Gillett and Jonas Williams, as arbitrators. The proceedings of a brief-lived institution called the Buffalo Moral Society, organized for the repression of vice in that vil- lage, shows the change of public sentiment on two points. A very guarded temperance resolution was adopted, in which it was recommended to professors of religion and friends of mor- ality " as far as practicable " to refrain from ardent spirits, to 296 MORALS AND MERCHANDISE. admit their use cautiously if at all, and to devise means of les- sening if not discontinuing their use among laborers. As to Sabbath-breaking their ideas were far more positive, as not long after they published a resolution declaring that the laws should be strictly enforced, not only against all who should drive loaded teams into the village, unload goods, keep. open stores, etc., but also against all parties of pleasure, riding or ivalking to Black Rock or elsewhere. Such a society would now speak far more strongly against the use of liquor, but would hardly dream of prohibiting people from walking out on Sunday. The first marine intelligence published under the head of " Port of Buff"alo" was on the 15th of August, 181 5, when the Gazette announced the following for the week previous : Entered — a boat from Detroit, loaded with fish and wool ; sloop Commo- dore Perry, peltries. Cleared — sloop Fiddler, Cuyahoga, salt and pork. The vessels in use appear to have been all sloops, schooners and open boats, and all but the last named craft landed at Black Rock. Salt was the most common article of merchandise sent up the lake. There were also sent in small quantities, dry goods, groceries, furniture and clothing. There was still less return freight. Nearly half of the few vessels came down the lake in bal- last, but none went up so. When they were loaded on the return trip, it was usually with fish, fur and peltries. Not a bushel of grain, not a pound of flour, came down for many years after the war. Building went on apace, and in July the Gazette boasted that there were nearly as many houses erected, or in process of erec- tion, as had been burned a year and a half before. VVilliamsville, which had become a place of considerable im- portance during the war, did not increase much for a good while after. Isaac F. Bowman was merchant and postmaster there in 1815. Alden had been hardly as early in settlement as the other towns north of the reservation. The first saw-mill was not erected until 18 14, John C. Rogers being the owner and builder. The next year a small log house was fitted up on the east part of the site of Alden village, and u.sed both as school-house and church; Miss Mehitable Estabrooks being the first school-teacher. AURORA AND SOUTH WALES. 297 To the corners in Willink, a mile east of Stephens' ATills, (now " East Aurora,") there came in the spring of 1815 a tall, dark, slender young man, about twenty-one years old, who pur- chased a small, unfinished frame and opened a store. This was Robert Person, for fifty years one of the most prominent citizens of Aurora, and this was the beginning of merchandis- ing in Willink, aside from the abortiv^e attempt of 181 1. A little before the close of the war a mail-route had been established through Willink and Hamburg, from east to west, running near the center of the present towns of Wales, Aurora and East Hamburg. There was a post-ofifice called Willink at Blakely's Corners, two miles south of Aurora village, and, I think, one called Hamburg at "John Green's tavern." Simon Crook was the first postmaster of the former. After the war it was moved down to Aurora village, where Elihu Walker was postmaster for nearly twenty years. Dr. John Watson continued to be the physician for the local- ity around Stephens' Mills. His brother, Dr. Ira G. Watson, located at \yhat was afterwards called South Wales, where he prac- ticed over thirty years, his ride extending over a large part of Wales, Aurora, Holland and Colden. It would appear that country doctors were sometimes short of medicines, for Dr. John Watson took pains to advertise that he had medicines for practice. Mr. Wm. C. Russell, of South Wales, who came there, a boy, with his father, John Russell, near the close of the war, says there was then a road, which could be traveled by teams, from Buffalo through the reservation to Stephens' Mills. It was suffi- ciently wild, however. He and his oldest sister, a young girl, drove a cow ahead of the team. Near what is now Spring Brook a bear crossed the trail just ahead of them. Seeing the children, he stood up on his hind legs to reconnoitre. Hearing them scream and seeing them pick up clubs, he finally retreated. At this time John McKeen kept the old " Eagle stand " at the west end of the village of East Aurora, and there were a few houses, mostly log, at each end of that village. In 1 8 16, Aaron Warner opened a tavern at South Wales. His son, D. S. Warner, in describing the scarcity of money then, says he does not believe there was five dollars of current 298 HOLLAND AND HAMBURG. money between Aurora and Holland. "Shinplasters," issued by private firms, were in use in many parts of the countrj', which, as Mr. Warner says, "were good from one turnpike gate to another." Before the close of the war. Col. Warren and r43hraim Wood- ruff had bought the mill-site at Holland village, and finished a grist-mill already begun — the first in the present town of Hol- land. In the spring of 181 5 Warren bought out Woodruff and moved to Holland, where he built a saw-mill, the first in that vicinity. Robert Orr was the mill-wright, and in the autumn of the same year he bought out Warren, who returned from Hol- land to Aurora; that is to say, he returned from the place where Holland was going to be to the place where Aurora was going to' be. Joshua Barron kept the first tavern in Holland, on the site of the village, just after the war, in the only frame house in the township. His sister, Lodisa Barron, since Mrs. Stanton, and still an active woman, kept the first school in that vi- cinity. There had been one in the Humphrey neighborhood before. James Reynolds opened a store in East Hamburg, near the close of the war, not far from the site of the Friends' meeting- house— afterwards still nearer Potter's Corners. A man named Cromwell also had a store there not long after the war. His clerk was from New York city, and old pioneers still smile aloud as they relate how the young New Yorker attempted a grand speculation in sugar, and began by tapping all the largest white oaks and basswoods he could find. Jacob Wright still kept the inn at or near Wright's Corners, and there the "townsmen of Hamburg" met in 181 5, and, after electing Mr. Wasson supervisor, voted a bounty of five dollars on wolf-scalps. At this time tiie town was divided into nine school-districts. The " Friends, called Quakers," as the record says, presented a petition, and were set off in a district by themselves. About this time, too, a Mr. Bennett opened a dry-goods and grocery store at Smith's ]\Iills, (Hamburg,) the first one there. James I lusted also had a tannery there. Although that was the principal place known as " Smith's Mills," there was another smith's mills and fiddler's green. 299 point of the same name not a i^reat ways off, at the mills of Humphrey Smith, in Willink, since called Griffin's Mills. Mr. Wm. Boies, of the latter place, relates that when he first came into Erie county, in the spring of 18 15, he was sent ahead by his brother to find his way, on horseback, to a still older brother who lived at " Staffordshire," in Aurora. He was di- rected to go to Buffalo, then up the beach of the lake, inquiring the way to "Wright's Corners," and there to inquire for " Smith's Mills." He did so, and was surprised to find himself at Smith's Mills only two miles from Wright's Corners. Further inquiry led to his finding that there was another Smith's Mills six or seven miles eastward, and thither he made his way. Soon after the war John Hill's father, William Hill, formerly a surgeon in the Rev'olution, came to what is now Eden Center, and kept the first tavern there. The place was then called Hill's Corners. The people of the town of Concord, (which it will be remem- bered comprised Sardinia, Concord, Collins and North Collins,) began to make a kind of business center at the point on Spring creek where Albro and Cochran had first settled, where Rufus Eaton had built a saw-mill before the war, and where he had afterwards erected a grist-mill and distillery. Settlers had become so numerous around there that, in the winter of 18 14, Mr. Eaton's son, Rufus C. Eaton, then nineteen, taught a school with seventy scholars. David Stickney started a tavern, and Capt. Frederick Richmond brought in some grocer- ies shortly after the war — I cannot learn exactly when. There was a small open space, used as a kind of common, where the public square at Springville now is, which soon acquired the name of Fiddler's Green. The reason is a little doubtful, but the best account is that there were several good fiddlers living in the immediate vicinity, and the people for miles around used to assemble there for merry-makings of all kinds. From this the little village received the same name, and for many years " Fiddler's Green " was its universal designation. Notwithstand- ing this godless name, a Presbyterian church was organized there by Father Spencer, in 18 16, being the first in the place. A Methodist and a Baptist church were formed not long after, but I have not the exact dates. 300 "THE MAN WHO KNOWS ALL THE WORLD." In the spring' of 1816 a new court-house was begun in Buffalo, and the walls erected during the summer. Instead of being placed in the middle of Onondaga (Washington) street, with a circular plat around it, as before, it was built on the east side of that street, and a small park was laid out in front of it. The building then erected was the one which for the last twenty-five years has been known as the " Old Court House," and which has been torn down during the present season. In that year Benjamin Ellicott, younger brother of Joseph, was elected to Congress. He was a resident of Williamsville, a surveyor by occupation, and not conspicuous after the expiration of his official term. The Indians called him by a name signify- ing " The Man who Knows all the World." They had observed him draw maps from notes brought him by his subordinates on which he depicted rivers and creeks which they knew he had never seen ; hence the admiring appellation they gave him. He was the last congressman from Erie county residing outside tlie village or city of Buffalo. The members of assembly chosen from this district were Richard Smith of Hamburg, and Jediah Prendergast of Chau- tauqua county. Frederick B. Merrill was appointed county clerk in this year, in place of Archibald S. Clarke ; the latter being made a member of the governor's council of appointment. He was also commissioned as a judge of the Common Pleas. I doubt if any other man in the county has ever held so many offices as Judge Clarke. The board of supervisors for that year was comprised of Na-. thaniel Sill of Buffalo, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Richard Smith of Hamburg and Lemuel Parmely of Eden. The town-book of Buffalo has been preserved since the war, and this one of its records, in 1816, brings vividly before the reader the then primeval condition of that great city and its suburbs : "Voted that a reward of $5.00 be i)aid for the destruction of every w^olf killed in said town, to be paid by the town, and that the evidence of their destruction shall be their scalp with the skin and ears on." Military affairs were not suffered to lag, so far as the appoint- ment of officers was concerned. A new regiment was created MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL. 3OI in the spring of 18 16; Colonels Chapin and Cook disappear from the record, and a commission was issued making Sumner Warren of Willink (Aurora), James Cronk of Clarence (New- stead), and Ezra Nott of Concord (Sardinia), lieutenant-colonels commandant ; Joseph Wells of Buffalo, and Luther Colvin of Hamburg (East Hamburg), first majors ; and Calvin Fillmore of Clarence (Lancaster), Frederick Richmond of Concord, and Benjamin L Clough of Hamburg, second majors. The commerce of the port of Buffalo continued of a very miscellaneous character, and articles of the same kind frequently went both ways. From a few records of cargoes, taken in their order, I find the articles going up were whisky, dry-goods, house- hold-goods, naval stores, dry-goods, groceries, hardware, salt, fish, spirits, household-goods, mill-irons, salt, tea, whisky, butter, whisky, coffee, soap, medicines, groceries, household-goods, farm utensils. Coming down, the list comprised furs, fish, cider, furs, paint, dry-goods, furniture, scythes, furs, grindstones, coffee, skins, furs, cider, paint, furs, fish, household-goods, grindstones, skins, 'sc3^thes, coffee, fish, building-stone, crockery, hardware, pork, scythes, clothing. It is difficult to guess whereabouts up the lake crockery, hardware, dry-goods and coffee came from at that day, but such is the record. Nearly all the vessels were schooners, a few only being sloops. The lake marine in 18 16 was composed, besides a few open boats, of the schooners Dolphin, Diligence, Erie, Pomfret, Wea- sel, Widow's Son, Merry Calvin, Firefly, Paulina, Mink, Mer- chant, Pilot, Rachel, Michigan, Neptune, Hercules, Croghan, Tiger, Aurora, Experiment, Black Snake, Ranger, Fiddler, and Champion ; and the sloops Venus, American Eagle, Persever- ance, Nightingale, and Black-River-Packet. There certainly did not seem to be much commerce to justify a grand canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie, but the statesmen of the day, looking hopefully toward the future, deemed its con- struction expedient, and they were eagerly seconded by the people. There had been various suggestions put forth from a very early day regarding the importance of a good water-com- munication between the ocean and the lakes. Most of them, how- ever, were directed toward the improvement of the natural 302 THE "GRAND CANAL." channels, so as to connect the Mohawk with Lake Ontario at Oswego. The first distinct, public advocacy of a separate canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie was made by Jesse Hawley, of On- tario county, in a series of essays published in the Ontario Mes- senger, in 1807-8. His idea was taken up by others, explora- tions were ordered by the legislature, and just before the war a law was passed authorizing the actual construction of the canal. The war, however, caused its repeal. De Witt Clinton had been foremost in urging forward the work, being strongly seconded by Gouverneur Morris, Joseph Ellicott, Peter 11 Por- ter and others. Mr. Ellicott, especially, showed at once great breadth of view, and excellent practical judgment. Immediately after the war the scheme was revived, Clinton being still its warmest supporter. Public opinion was thor- oughly awakened, and in March, 18 16, a bill passed the assembly directing the immediate commencement of the canal. The more conservative senate insisted on further surveys and esti- mates, to which the assembly assented. The same summer a route was surveyed from Buffalo to the Genesee, which was sub- stantially the same as that finally adopted. In July, 1 8 16, the first bank in Erie county was organized, and named the Bank of Niagara. The whole capital was the immense sum (for those times) of five hundred thousand dollars, but the amount required to be paid down was modest enough, being only six dollars and twenty-five cents on each share of a hundred dollars. The directors were chosen from a wide range of country — being Augustus Porter, of Niagara Falls ; James Brisbane, of.Batavia; A. S. Clarke, of Clarence; Jonas Wil- liams and Benjamin Caryl, of Williamsville ; Isaac Kibbe, of Hamburg; Martin Prcndergast, of Chautauqua county ; Samuel Russell and Chauncey Loomis (exact residence unknown), and Ebenezer F. Norton, Jonas Harrison, Ebenezer Walden and John G. Camp, of Buffalo. Isaac Kibbe was the first president, and Isaac Q. Leake the first cashier. In those days probably a man might move in the first circles without his name being either Ebenezer, Jonas or Isaac, but those were certainly the fashionable appellations. Probably it had no perceptible influence on the destiny of RED JACKET ON ETIQUETTE. 303 Erie county, yet it seems worth mentioning" that in November, 1 8 16, Marshal Grouchy and suite, returning from Niagara Falls, came to Buffalo and then visited the Seneca Indian village. It is interesting to pause a moment from chronicling the erection of log-taverns and the election of supervisors, to contemplate the war-worn French marshal, (the hero of a score of battles, yet half-believed a traitor because he failed to intercept the march of Blucher to support Wellington at Waterloo,) soothing his vexed spirit with a visit to the greatest of natural wonders, and then coming to seek wisdom at aboriginal sources, and exchange compliments with Red Jacket and Little Billy. Doubtless the renowned Seneca orator arrrayed himself in his most becoming apparel, and assumed his stateliest demeanor to welcome the great war-chief from over the sea, and doubtless he felt that it was he, Sagoyewatha, who was conferring honor b}' the interview. An anecdote related by Stone shows how proudl}^ the sachem was accustomed to maintain his dignit}'. A young French count came to Buffalo, and, hearing that Red Jacket was one of the lions of the western world, sent a messenger inviting the sachem to visit him at his hotel. Sa- goyewatha sent back word that if the young stranger wished to see the old chief, he would be welcome at his cabin. The count again sent a message, saying that he was much fatigued with his long journey of four thousand miles; that he had come all that distance to see the celebrated orator, Red Jacket, and he thought it strange that the latter would not come five miles to meet him. But the chief, as wily as he was proud, returned answer that it was still more strange that, after the count had traveled all that immense distance for such a purpose, he should halt only a few miles from the home of the man he had come so far to see. Finally the young nobleman gave up, visited the sachem at his home, and was delighted with the eloquence, wisdom and dig- nity of the savage. Then, the claims of etiquette having been satisfied, the punctilious chieftain accepted an invitation to dine with his titled visitor at his hotel. The same year, several Senecas were taken to Europe to be shown, by a speculator called Captain Hale. The principal ones were the Chief So-onongise, commonly called by the whites Tommy Jemmy, his son. Little Bear, and a handsome Indian 304 THE COLD SUMMER. called"! Like You." Jacob A. Barker, son of Judge Zena.s Barker, went along as interpreter. The speculation seems not to have been a success, and Hale ran away. An English lady, said to have been of good family and refined manners, fell des- perately in love with " I Like You," and was with difficulty pre- vented from linking her fortunes to his. After his return, the enamored lady sent her portrait across the ocean to her dusky lover. There have been many such cases, and sometimes the woman has actually wedded her copper-colored Othello, and taken up her residence in his wigwam or cabin. Among the farmers, the peculiar characteristic of 1816 was that it was the year of the " cold summer." Tliough sixty years have passed away, the memory of the " cold summer " is still vividly impressed on the minds of the surviving pioneers. Snow fell late in May, there was a heavy frost on the 9th of June, and all through the summer the weather was terribly un- propitious to the crops of the struggling settlers. There had been a large emigration in the spring, just about time enough having elap.sed since the war for people to make up their minds to go West. Forty families came into the present town of Hol- land alone, and elsewhere the tide was nearly as great. An overflowing population and an extremely short crop, with no reserves in the granaries to fall back on, soon made provisions of all kinds extremely high and dear. The fact that there is little or no grain in store always makes a failure of the crop fall with treble severity on a new country, as has been seen in the case of drouth in Kansas and grasshoppers in Nebraska. How closely the reserve was worked up in this section may be .seen by the fact that on the 17th of August, 18 16, just before the new crop was ground, flour sold in Buffalo for $15.00 a bar- rel, and on the 19th there was not a barrel on sale in the village. The new crop relieved the pressure for a while, but this ran low early in the winter, and then came scenes of great suffering for the poorer class of settlers. In many cases the hunter's skill furni.shed his family with meat, but in a large part of the county there had been just enough settlement to scare away the game. There is no proof that any of the people actually starved to death, but there can be no doubt that the weakening from long privation caused many a premature death. A MIGHTY HUNTER. 305 Fortunate were tlie dwellers where the deer were still numer- ous. There were many in the vicinity of the Cattaraugus creek. Josiah Thompson, now of Holland, was a famous hunter of those days, residing in the east part of Concord, now Sardinia. He told me that in the winter after the "cold summer," when many families were almost starving, the men would come to him for the loan of his rifle to kill deer. But, like many hunters, he held his rifle as something sacred. His invariable reply was that he would not loan his rifle, but would willingly kill a deer for the seeker, and did so again and again. He stated that he had frequently, after killing deer all one day, had a good sled-load to draw in the next day. Not only deer but bears and wolves fell before his unerring rifle. On one oc- casion he met five bears and killed three of them. But his most remarkable feat was when, as he asserted, he went out after supper and killed eighteen deer before quitting for the night. I didn't ask him wdien he ate supper. During the cold summer the Indians tried to produce a change by pagan sacrifices. Major Jack Berry, Red Jacket's inter- preter, a fat chief who usually went about in summer Avith a bunch of flowers in his hat, said that to avert the cold weather his countrymen burnt a white dog and a deer, and held a grand pow-wow under the direction of the medicine men — but the next morning there was a harder frost than ever before. Notwithstanding the adverse weather, the large emigration produced some progress even in 18 16. In the present town of Alden, Amos Bliss opened the first tavern in that year. Seth Estabrooks brought in a cart-load of groceries, etc., and set up as the first merchant, in a one-roomed log-house, a few rods south of the main road, on what is now called the Mercer road. Gen. Warren built another frame tavern at the east end of Willink village. His younger brother, Asa Warren, moved from Aurora to Eden, settling first at a place now called Kromer's Mills, two or three miles eastward from Eden Center, where he built a grist-mill and saw^-mill, becoming one of the leading citi- zens of the town. About the same time, or a little earlier, Erastus Torrey, with his younger brothers, located at what is now called Boston Cor- ners, but which for many years was known as Torrey's Corners. ;o6 A WANDERING BALLOT-BOX. chaptp:r XXVIII. 1817 AND 1818. \\^rindei"ing Polls. — Officers. — Formalion of Boston. — First Cargo of Flour. — Furs. — -A Presidential Visitor. — Terrible Roads. — The Four-Mile Woods. — Starv- ing Indians. — Father Spencer. — A Revival. — Beginning the Canal. — Progress Here and There. — Lost and Frozen. — Four New Towns. — Willink Destroyed. — Political Complications. — A Youthful Congressman. — Wearers of Epau- lets.— The "Walk-in-the- Water." — The "Horn Breeze." — Religious Im- provement.— A Church Building. — Wright's Mills. — Springville. — Wales Emmons. — A Wonderful Battle. — John Turkey's Victory. The migratory character of the ballot-box, sixty years ago, is well illustrated by the journeyings of that of the town of Buf- falo in 1 8 17. On the 29th day of March, at 9 a. m., the polls were opened at the house of Frederick Miller, at Williamsville. At 5 p. m. they were adjourned to the house of Anna Ad- kins, on Buffalo Plains. They opened there the next morning at nine, and at twelve adjourned to the house of Pliny A. Field, at Black Rock. At 5 p. m. they were adjourned to the house of Elias Ransom, in the village of Buffalo, where they remained during the next day, March 31st. The assemblymen elected were Isaac Phelps, Jr., of Willink, (Aurora,) and Robt. Fleming, of the present county of Niagara. The known supervisors for 18 17 were Erastus Granger of Buffalo, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Isaac Chandler of Ham- burg, and Silas Estee of P2den. The town of Boston, with its present boundaries, was formed from Eden on the 5th day of April, 1817. It comprised the whole of township Eight, range Seven, except the western tier of lots, which was left attached to Eden. It was organized the next year, with Samuel Abbott as the first supervisor and young Truman Cary as one of the board of assessors. Cattaraugus county was separately organized in the summer of 1 8 17. Shortly afterwards Samuel Tuppcr, first judge of Ni- agara county, died, and ere long these changes caused a reor- OFFICIAL AND COMMERCIAL. 307 ganization of the Court of Common Picas, by which William Hotchkiss, from the present county of Niagara, was named as first judge, with five associates ; of these Oliver Forward, Chas. Townsend, Samuel Wilkeson and Samuel Russell were from the present county of Erie. I give a list of justices of the peace appointed in 18 17, which I have chanced to meet with, though henceforth it will be im- practicable, for lack of room, to include those increasing conserv- ators of the law. They were James Wolcott, Jonathan Bowen, Isaac Wilson, C. Clifford, Seth Abbott, Amos Smith, John Hill, Nathaniel Gray, Salmon W. Beardsley, Gad Pierce, Morton Crosby, Frederick Richmond, Rufus Eaton, Burgoyne Camp, Elijah Doty, James Sheldon, Ezra St. John, Alexander Hitch- cock, Rufus Spaulding, Simeon Fillmore and Luther Barney. When I wrote the first draft of this chapter, I mentioned that of all that list only Alexander Hitchcock, of Cheektowaga, sur- vived. Before the revision for the press took place, he too passed away. One of the number, James Sheldon, father of the pres- ent Judge Sheldon, was a young lawyer who had lately settled in Buffalo, forming a partnership with C. G. Olmsted, who had been there a little longer. The open boat Troyer, which came into port about the middle of July, 18 17, brought the pioneer cargo of breadstuffs from the West, being partly loaded with flour from Cuyahoga. This was the feeble beginning of a trade which now rivals that of many an independent nation. Yet it was many years after that before the commerce in west- ern breadstuff's became of any considerable consequence. Half the vessels still came down the lake empty. One week six or seven arrivals were in ballast. Furs still constituted the princi- pal shipments, in value, from the West, and in the summer of 1817 a vessel bearing the curious name of "Tigress and Han- nah" brought the largest and most valuable lot ever shipped at once from the West, estimated to be worth over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It comprised five hundred and ninety- four packages of beaver, otter, muskrat, bear and buffalo skins, of which three hundred and twenty-two packages belonged to John Jacob Astor. A notable event for this frontier county was the first visit of 308 A PRESIDENTIAL VISITOR. a President of the United States. President Monroe, having spent a day at the Falls, came up the river on the 9th of Au- gust, accompanied by General Jacob Brown, commander-in- chief of the army. He was met below Black Rock by a com- mittee of eminent citizens, and escorted to Landon's hotel. There was an address by the committee, a brief, extemporane- ous reply by the illustrious guest, the usual hand-shake accorded to our patient statesmen, and then the President embarked the same evening for Detroit. It was noticed by the press that the President had then "already been more than, two months away from Washington," and his western trip and return must have consumed nearly a month more. The distinguished visitor was certainly not detained to greet the people of Tonawanda, for that now flourishing burg had then not even made a start in the race for success. Mr. Urial Driggs, who as a boy passed through there in that year, says there was nothing there but an old log-tavern and a rope-ferry. There were, however, two or three log houses on the north side. Early in 18 17 a post-office was established at Black Rock, James L. Barton being the first postmaster. Even at this period there was only a tri-weekly mail from and to the Ea.st, the stage leaving Buffalo Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 o'clock a. m. These were the days of terrible roads, in both spring and fall. In summer the big coaches bowled along easily enough over hill and dale, the closely- packed passengers beguiling the time with many a pleasant tale, until "stage-coach stories " have become famous for their wit and jollity. But woe to the unlucky traveler, doomed to a stage-coach experience in spring or fall. That he should be re- quired to go on foot half the time was the least of his troubles. His services were frequently demanded to pry the coach from some fearful mud-hole, in which it had sunk to the axle, with a rail abstracted from a neighboring fence, and through pieces of wood it was often thought best to take a rail along. "To go on foot and carry a rail," and pay for the privilege besides, was a method of stage-riding as celebrated as it was unpleasant. Erie county had something more than its full share of such highways, as the reservations in it had no roads that were even tolerable. Frequent were the complaints of the Cayuga Creek ROADS AND INDIANS. 309 road, the Buffalo road, the J3ig- Tree road, etc., but the chmax of despair was only reached at the "Four-Mile Woods," on the lake shore, a little this side of Cattaraugus creek. Old settlers tell wonderful stories of the Plutonian depths to which the mud reached in that dreadful locality. The historian of livans insists that it was there and nowhere else that the story originated of the traveler who, while passing over a horrible road, descried a good-looking hat just at the top of the mud. Picking it up, he was surprised at being denounced by some one underneath, for taking a gentleman's hat off his head without leave. On offering to help the submerged individual out, he was still more astonished when the latter declined on the ground that he couldn't leave the horse he was riding, which was travel- ing on hard ground. All agree that this event ought to have happened in the " Four-Mile Woods," whether it did or not. The Indians on the various reservations had suffered quite as severely as any one from the effects of the "cold summer." Their game had been largely driven away by settlement around them, their own small crops had been destroyed by frost, and even their annuities were reduced in actual value by the high price of provisions. The schoolmaster, Mr. Hyde, made a pub- lic appeal for help, declaring that there was great actual want. At this time the few Onondagas received about six dollars each, while the Senecas, numbering seven hundred, received about two dollars and a half to each individual. Part of this came from an annuity of five hundred dollars a year, being the principal consideration for Grand Island, their claim to which they had sold to the State a short time previous. In passing, it may be mentioned that that island was entirely unoccupied except by a few " squatters," who had located there principally for the purpose of cutting staves out of the State's timber. These gradually increased in number, and as it was not yet fully decided whether the island belonged to the United States or Canada, and also because it was very difficult to reach the interlopers, they did about as they pleased. Some of the Indians cut wood for the Buffalo market, receiv- ing a trifling pay in flour and pork. Some of them obtained credit for provisions, and Mr. Hyde declared that they were honest and punctual in paying their debts. He said that after 3 10 FATHER SPENCER. doing so they would have just about enough left of their annu- ities to buy their seed. lie got little help from the people, who had slight patience with Indian peculiarities. The Presbyterian synod of Geneva, however, furnished some aid, and some way or other the Indians worried through. At this time the Presbyterians, including the Congregationalists, with whom they were united for church work, were the leading denomination of the county, so far as any could be said to lead, though the Methodists, led by that enthusiastic young preacher, Glezen Fillmore, were rapidly gaining upon them. I have be- fore spoken of "Father Spencer," who was a Congregational minister acting under the Presbyterian synod. I find his traces everywhere, especially south of the Buffalo reservation. Almost every old settler, whatever his religious proclivities, has a story to tell of P^ather Spencer, a short, sturdy man, on a big, bob- tailed horse, riding from one scattered neighborhood to another, summer and winter, preaching, praying, organizing churches, burying the dead and marrying the living ; a man full of zeal in his Master's cause, but full also of life and mirth, ready to answer every jest with another, and a universal favorite among the hardy pioneers. He, himself, would not admit being thoroughly beaten in jest save in a single instance. His big horse was almost as noted as himself. One day, when the roads were terrible, he was resting the animal by going on foot ahead, leading him by the bridle. The little man trudged sturdily along, but the horse, being old and stiff, hung back the full length of the reins. Passing through a little village, a pert young man suddenly called out : "See here, old gentleman, you ought to trade that horse ofif for a hand-sled ; you could draw it a great deal easier." Father Spencer thought so too, and made no reply, but he kept the big horse, and used to tell the story on himself with great zest. I heard it from half a dozen informants. This proves that there were some saucy young men in those days, and also that people could get a great deal of enjoyment out of a very moderate joke. In 1817, 1 find the first account of anything resembling a revival of religion. On one Sunday eight members were ad- mitted into the Presbyterian church in Buffalo, and a writer con- PROGRESS HERE AND THERE. 311 gratulatcs the public that "through this section of this lately heathen country the spirit of the Lord and the spirit of the Gospel are extending far and wide." The same writer is de- lighted with similar results attained in "the towns of VVillink, Hamburg and Edon, where lately the spirits of the evil one enchained the hearts of many." The year 18 17 was also notable in the history of the State for a measure deeply affecting the interests of Erie county ; viz., the passage of a law actually directing the construction of a canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie. Previously all had been uncertain ; now the work was made as sure as legislative enactment could make it. The first ground was broken near Rome, on the 4th of July of that year. Among the scattered signs of progress in this year, which I have chanced to meet with, I find that John C. Rogers, the en- terprising builder of the first saw-mill in Alden, in 18 17 also erected the first grist-mill. My authority for this and several other statements regarding that town is the "Oddaographic," an odd and graphic little sheet published at Alden village. About this time the Willink " Smith's mills " were sold to James and Robert Griffin, and the place has ever since borne the name of "Griffin's Mills," or " Griffinshirc." James Griffin was a man of considerable prominence and was supervisor of Aurora two or three years. Adams Paul also set up a store there near the same time, perhaps a little earlier, which he kept for nearly thirty years. In this year, also, Leonard Cook, who still survives, residing upon Vermont Hill, opened the first store in the present town of Holland, at what is now Holland village. That same fall there occurred in that locality one of those events which most strongly excite the feelings of a frontier set- tlement, and furnish a subject of conversation for scores of years afterwards. On the eastern side of Vermont Hill, nearly east from the embryo village, lived John Colby, a young settler, some thirty years of age, with a wife and two small children. Like many- others he had been severely straitened by the "cold summer" of 1 8 16, and had barely struggled through the succeeding winter. By the autumn of 181 7, he obtained a cow^ and one or two young cattle. 312 LOST AND FROZEN. When tlic first snow of the season came, in the month of November, Colby's cattle and those of a neighbor strayed away, and the two started out in search of them. The neighbor found his and returned home, while Colby continued on in search of his own. All day and all night his wife expected his return, but he came not. More snow fell during the night. The next morning the news was sent around the neighborhood that John Colby must be lost. The log dwellings of the settlers on the hill were widely scattered, but the news spread rapidly and a goodly number of hardy, active men were soon assembled. The snow of the last night had not entirely obliterated the track of the wanderer, and the searchers followed upon it. For awhile it pursued the direction in which Colby was prob- ably seeking his cattle. At length, however, it got among the hills and ravines southward from the site of Holland village, and then it would appear as if the traveler had entirely lost track of home, and had wandered aimlessly among those forest-covered steeps. Very likely night had overtaken him before he entered among them. His friends pursued among the gorges his devious pathway, barely discernible under the new-fallen snow. So tortuous had been his wanderings that, though the searchers pressed on with all practicable speed, the forenoon passed and the afternoon waned ere they discovered aught but the half-covered track of the missing man. At length, a little before nightfall, as the party was approach- ing the settlements on Cazenove creek, the leader discovered, curled up at the foot of a tree and covered with snow, some- thing resembling a human form. All quickly gathered around, and there lay John Colby, dead, only a short distance from the clearing and house of a settler. It would appear that, having once lost his way, he had be- come entirely unable to adopt any line of action. When night came on he had wandered about at random among the hills and ravines, growing colder and weaker as he went. Had the obvi- ous expedient of following a stream of water down hill sug- gested itself to him, it would soon have carried him to a clearing, but nothing of the kind seems to have come into his mind. FOUR NEW TOWNS. 313 So he had strugt^lcd on, and at length, toward morning, had leaned against a tree to rest, and then, overcome by cold and fatigue, had fallen down in a heap at its foot. Every event of that kind was pretty sure to be celebrated in rhv-me b)' some rude versifier of the forest. One Simeon Davis was the poetic genius of that locality, and ere long he had turned the mournful story of poor John Colby into verse. No less than two hundred and forty lines were produced by the facile poet, and these being reduced to writing by some admirer, (for Simeon himself was destitute of that accomplishment,) were copied, and repeated, and sung in many a frontier home for more than a score of years. The year 18 r 8 was distinguished by the creation of four new towns, and the annihilation of the oldest one in the county. On the tenth day of April an act was passed forming the town of Amherst out of Buffalo. It comprised the present towns of Amherst and Cheektowaga, and nominally extended to the cen- ter of the reservation. Five days later the town of Willink, the organization of which dated back to 1804, was stricken from existence. From its for- mer magnificent proportions, rivaling those of a German prin- cipality, comprising at one time a strip eighteen miles wide by a hundred long, at another a space twenty-seven miles by thirty-five, it had been reduced to a block twelve miles square, and was now about to suffer annihilation. Whether the settlers had some special grudge against the worthy Amsterdam burgher who was the recognized head of the so-called Holland Land Company, or whether they thought his name lacking in euphony, I know not, but they determined, so far as they could, to get rid of "Willink." Petitions were sent to the legislature, and on the 15th of April the necessary law was passed. Township Eight, in range Five, and township Eight, in range Six, were formed into a new town named Holland, comprising the present towns of Holland and Colden. It could hardly have been dislike of the Holland Company that led to the cast- ing off of the name of "Willink," for Holland must ha\'e re- ceived its appellation purely out of compliment to that com- pany. J^othing could well have been more unlike the half- 314 WALES, AURORA, ETC. submerged plains at the mouth of the Rhine than the narrow valley, precipitous hillsides, and lofty table-lands of the new- town. There was more propriety in tlie name of " Wales," which was given to another new town, composed of township Nine, range Five, with the nominal addition of half the reservation-land op- posite. Its hills, though not so lofty, were numerous enough to give it a strong resemblance to the little principality which over- looks the Irish channel. Finally, by the same act, the remainder of Willink (viz., the ninth township in the sixth range and the adjoining reservation- land,) was formed into a town by the name of Aurora. As it contained a larger population than either of the others, it has usually been considered as the lineal successor of Willink, but the law simply annihilated the latter town and created three new ones. The known supervisors for 1818 were Charles G. Olmstead of Buffalo, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Richard Smith of Ham- burg, Samuel Abbott of Boston, and John March of Eden. The new towns were not organized till the next year. Early in 1818 S. H. Salisbury retired from the Gazette, a fact which I notice in order to mention that his farewell address of fifty-two lines was the longest editorial which had at that time appeared in Erie county. In a few months H. A. Salisbury be- came sole editor and proprietor. He changed the paper's name to " The Niagara Patriot," and announced that in future it would be a Republican sheet. It will be observed that the name "Republican" was still ap- plied to the party which had of old borne that appellation, but which had recently been more often called "Democratic." This was during what has been termed the "era of good feeling," when the Federal party had almost entirely disappeared and no new one had taken its place. The Republican, or Democratic, party was in full possession of the national field, but in local matters it frequently split into factions, which waged war with a fury indicating but little of the "good feeling" commonly sup- posed to have prevailed. In this congressional district the regular Republican conven- tion nominated Nathaniel Allen, from the eastern part, and Al- A VOUNG CONGRESSMAN. j'5 bcrt H. Tracy, the young lawyer of Buffalo. Isaac Phelps, Jr., of Aurora was renominated to the assembly, along with Philo Orton of Chautauqua county. Forthwith a large portion of the party declared war against the nominees. The cause is hard to discover, but there was a vast amount of denunciation of the " Kremlin Junta." By this it is evident that the original " Krem- lin block " was already in existence, having doubtless been thus named because built amid the ruins of Buffalo, as the Kremlin was rebuilt over the ashes of Moscow. It was there that the "Junta," consisting of Mr. Tracy, Dr. Marshall, James Sheldon and a few others, were supposed to meet and concoct the most direful plans. Ex-Congressman Clarke was the leader of the opposing fac- tion. Ere long an independent convention nominated Judge Elias Osborne, of Clarence, for the assembly, against Phelps, but seem to have been unable to find candidates for Congress. The old members, John C. Spencer and Benjamin Ellicott, declined a renomination, but were voted for by many members of the anti-Kremlin party. The Patriot was the organ of the Clarke- Osborn faction, while the Journal fought for Tracy and Phelps. Dire were the epithets hurled on either side. No political con- flict, over the most important issues of the present day, has been more bitter than this little unpleasantness during the " era of good feeling." At the election in April, Tracy was chosen by a large majority, and Phelps by twenty-three. The former was then but twenty-five years of age, barely old enough to be le- gally eligible to Congress, and considerably the youngest mem- ber who has ever been elected in this county. A law was passed this year abolishing the office of assistant- justice, restricting the number of associate-judges to four, and requiring a district-attorney in every county. Under this stat- ute Charles G. Olmsted was the first district-attorney of Niagara county. Asa Ransom, w^ho had been four times appointed sheriff, made his final retirement in 1818, and James Cronk, of what is now Newstead, was commissioned in his place. Passing from the stirring conflicts of political life to the peace- ful scenes of the militia-encampment, we find that in the same year Brigadier-General William Warren was appointed major- 3l6 SWORD AND EPAULET. general of the twenty-fourth division, Colonel Ezra Nott being made brigadier in his stead. Elihu Rice was Nott's brigade major, Earl Sawyer his quartermaster, and Edward Paine quar- termaster of another brigade. By this time no less than four regiments of infantry had been organized within the present county of Erie, and, as the law had recently been changed, each had a colonel, lieutenant-colonel and one major. The field officers of the i/th regiment, the one north of the reservation, were James Cronk, colonel ; Calvin Eill- more, lieutenant-colonel; and Arunah Hibbard, major. Cronk's office was soon vacated by his appointment as sheriff, when I suppose Fillmore and Hibbard were promoted. Those of the 170th regiment, apparently comprising only the old town of W'illink, (Aurora, Wales, Holland and Colden,) were Sumner Warren, colonel ; Lyman Blackmar, lieutenant- colonel ; and Abner Currier, major. Of the 48th regiment, in the towns farther west, Charles Johnson was colonel; Asa War- ren, lieutenant-colonel; and Silas Whiting, major. Farther south was the 181st regiment, of which Frederick "Richmond was col- onel ; Truman White, lieutenant-colonel ; and Benjamin Fay, major. Besides these the 12th regiment of cavalry and the 7th regi- ment of artillery had a representation in the county, as I find the name of Hawxhurst Addington, of Aurora, as captain in the former, and Reuben B. Heacock, of Buffalo, in the latter. We were a very military community in those days. A hundred and thirty-nine years after the gallant La Salle entered Lake Erie with the pioneer sail-vessel, there occurred at the same point a similar event, which, though lacking the heroic and romantic elements of the earlier scene, was yet a mat- ter of intense interest to a great number of people. In the previous November two or three capitalists had come from New York to Black Rock, and caused to be laid the keel of the first steamboat which any one had ever attempted to build above the great cataract. In the spring the work was pressed forward, and on the 28th of Ma}', 1818, the new vessel was launched amid the acclamations of a host of spectators. It re- ceived the appropriate and striking name of "Walk-in-the- Water," partly because it did walk in the water, and partly in THE WALK-IN-THE-WATKR. 317 honor of a great Wyandot chieftain who once bore that pccuhar cognomen. The new steamer was ready for use about the middle of Au- gust, and then occurred a reproduction of La Salle's experience, with an element of the ludicrous superadded. Again and again the Walk-in-the-Water essayed to steam up the rapids into the lake, and again and again it was compelled to fall back, its en- gines not being strong enough for the purpose. At length, after several days of unavailing trials, the owners, to their intense mortification, were compelled to apply to Capt. Sheldon Thompson, of Black Rock, for the loan of his cele- brated " Horn Breeze," that is to say, of the dozen yoke of oxen used to drag sail-vessels up the rapids, and which, as before mentioned, the sailors had dubbed by that peculiar title. On the 23d of August another trial was made. The " Horn Breeze " was duly attached by a cable to the vessel, and steam was generated to the utmost capacity of the boilers. The stok- ers flung wood into the fire-places, the drivers swung their whips, and w'ith steam-power and ox-power combined the vessel moved slowly up the rapids. Ere long the difficulty was passed, smooth water was reached, the " Horn Breeze " was detached, and thus, a hundred and thirty-nine years and sixteen days after the Griffin first ploughed the waters of Erie, the Walk-in-the-Water inaugurated the sec- ond great era of lake navigation. Religious improvement steadily continued. A Presbyterian' church, the first in the present town of Lancaster, was organized on the 7th of February, 18 18, at the "Johnson school-house," on the site of Lancaster village, under the name of the Cayuga Creek church. It was composed of five males and eight females, Rev. Jas. H. Mills being the ofificiating minister, and was the fruit of the revival of the previous year, which was con- tinued during the succeeding summer. Before the infant church was a year old, it numbered thirty-one members. Notwithstanding the large and growing population of the county, there was not a solitary church-building within its limits, excepting the log meeting-house of the Quakers at East Ham- burg. In 18 18, however, that energetic young servant of Christ, Glezen Fillmore, after serving nine years as a local preacher. 3l8 A CHURCH IX FORTV-SKVEN DAYS. was regularly ordained as a Methodist minister, at the age of twenty-eight, and appointed to a circuit comprising Buffalo and Black Rock, and a wide region northward from those villages. On arriving at Buffalo he found just four Methodist brethren! The Presbyterians held services in the court-house, and the Epis- copalians in a building which, though private property, was used as a school-house. At first Mr. Fillmore preached in the lat- ter place, by permission of the owner, at sunrise and at early candle-light. Besides this he preached twice at Black Rock, making four services every Sabbath, and on week-days met fourteen appointments in the country. His salary was seventy- fi\-e dollars the first year. Some difficulty arising, he was denied the privilege of preach- ing in the school-house. It was determined to build a church. A lot was leased on Tuscarora (Franklin) street, and a church twenty-five feet by thirty-five was begun on the eighth of De- cember, i8i8. Mr. Fillmore assumed the responsibility for ever\'thing. As he expressed it afterwards, " I had no trustees, no time to make them, and nothing to make them of." His peo- ple, however, contributed according to their means, he wrote to a zealous Methodist in New York who collected and sent him a hundred and twenty dollars, and Joseph Ellicott gave him three hundred. On the 24th day of January, 1819, just forty- seven days after it was begun, the church was dedicated. Near this time, though at a warmer season, the whole Metho- dist church of Buffalo rode out to a quarterly meeting in Clar- ence, in one lumber wagon. Fortunately for the horses there were but seven members. At the same time improvements were taking place in every direction. The forest was being constantly swept away, and every little while a new grist-mill or store marked another step toward the condition of older communities. In most cases the details have not come down to us, but oc- casionally I have been able to get hold of an item showing the course of progress. A grist-mill was built at what is now Evans Center, in 18 18. by a man named Wright, who had previously had a saw-mill there. A few houses were built around, and for a long time the little settlement was known as " Wright's Mills." LEGAL LORE EXTRAORDINARY. 319 Springville had by this time probably a dozen houses, and Mr. Rufus Eaton became so impressed with its prospects that he procured a surveyor to make a regular map of it, several of the streets then laid down corresponding with those of the present day. Drs. Daniel and Varney Ingalls, two brothers, came there about this time, and began practicing medicine, being the first regular physicans. A Dr. Churchill had practiced before, with- out a diploma. The place of a lawyer was supplied by Wales Emmons, a cabinet-maker, who had settled there the year before, whose services in justices' courts were in wide demand, and whose many pranks are still the theme of jovial rehearsal. One of the sto- ries represents him as being employed by the defendant in an action brought before a justice some miles from Springville. Seeing that there was no defense, and knowing the dullness of the magistrate, Emmons rode over to his residence a day or two before the time appointed for the trial, and informed him that the defendant had concluded to withdraw the suit and pay the costs. To this the worthy justice assented, received the money, and noted the withdrawal in his docket. On the appointed day the plaintiff, with his counsel, (also an amateur,) appeared, when the justice benignantly informed them that the defendant had withdrawn the case and paid the costs. "Withdrawn the case," roared the pettifogger; "what do you mean ? The defendant can't withdraw the case." " But he /urs withdrawn it," replied the justice, with dignity, for he felt as if his word was disputed ; "he /uis withdrawn it and paid the costs, and it is so entered on my docket, and I will have nothing more to do with it." The counsel advised a suit before another justice, but the un- lucky plaintiff had had experience enough, and settled with Emmons' client on the best terms he could obtain. Notwithstanding the march of improvement, (as shown b}- such courts of justice,) the fierce denizens of the forest still prowled in large numbers around the frontier cabins. Numerous combats took place between them and their human antagonists, but there was one battle, which came off near the beginning or close of 18 18, of such a remarkable character as to deserve especial notice. In fact I doubt if all the annals of 320 A BATTLE ROYAL. that kind of warfare can show a soHtar}- instance of greater coohiess, courage or success than was seen on the occasion of which I am speaking. It beats even the exploit of PhiHp Con- jockety in kilHng the two panthers, which I thought sufficiently- audacious. So remarkable were the circumstances, that I hesitated to be- lieve this story until investigation convinced me of its truth. I have heard it from several different sources, and, though they vary slightly as to details, yet as to the main points there is no dispute. The following account of it is derived from a compar- ison of the different stories, though the most direct statement comes, through Mr. George Wheeler, from Mr. Isaac Hale of North Collins, who was a boy of fourteen, residing near where the event occurred. It is corroborated by John Sherman, Esq.. an old resident of the same place. An Indian on the Cattaraugus reservation one day discovered the trail of three panthers in the deep snow. Not desiring to meet such game as that himself, he notified another brave, named John Turkey, one of the celebrated hunters of the tribe. As the latter told it: "Me sick when he come ; me well quick when he tell about panther." Turkey took his gun and accoutrements and started alone in pursuit. He followed the trail about six miles to the head of "Big Sister Swamp" in the present town of North Collins, two or three miles southeastward from the village of that name. There he came to two or three large trees, turned up by the roots and lying close together. Looking beyond them he saw no tracks, and at once concluded that the animals were concealed there. Turkey put two balls in his mouth, took the stopper out of his powder-horn, cocked his gun and approached. Suddenly a panther sprang out on to one of the trees, while two others were heard below ; all making a noise which Turkey describes as re- sembling the caterwauling of a score of tabbies, fifty times in- creased. I infer from the story, though it is not directly stated, that the first was an old one, and the others not quite full grown. Instantly leveling his gun, the hunter fired with so true an aim that the panther fell dead to the ground. The two others sprang out on the farther side, raising a yell that resounded afar through the forest. Turkey reloaded almost in a second, pouring in TURKEYS TRIUMPH. 32 I plent}' of powder without mcasurinij, and snatching a ball from his mouth and dropping it into the muzzle, without a patch and without ramming. "Mebbe," said he, "ball go half way down ; mebbe not." At the same time one of the young panthers sprang on the trees and came toward him. Again he leveled his weapon and the second enemy fell dead. The third one had attempted to follow the first, but had struck his breast against the farther tree, fallen back, and then turned to go around the tops. This gave Turkey time to reload in the same expeditious manner as before. He had hardly done so when number three came around the tops, jumped on a log, and prepared to spring. Just as he was doing so, Turkey fired for the third time. The ani- mal was fatally wounded in the neck, but came on. Turkey sprang aside, the panther stopped, and the Indian was about to strike him with his clubbed rifle when he saw him stagger. He gave him a push with the muzzle of his gun, when the animal immediately rolled over and expired. By this time it was nearly dark, and as Turkey was not very well he did not purpose to travel any more that evening. So he scooped away the snow between the trees, laid down hemlock boughs for a bed, put some more across the two trunks for a shel- ter, and thus made himself thoroughly comfortable for the night, with his dead enemies all around. The next morning he skinned his game, shouldered the pelts with the heads attached, and went some three miles southwest- ward to Hanford's tavern, at Taylor's Hollow. Hanford, or some one else, gave him a certificate on which he obtained the bounty paid by the town for panthers. He then took them to Buffalo, and it is said obtained a county bounty also. Passing through Hill's Corners, (Eden Center,) he showed the three scalps to the children as they came out of school. I have talked with those who saw them there, and the various stories from which I have compiled the foregoing account difi"er only in some minor details. It was certainly one of the boldest ex- ploits ever performed, and fairly entitles John Turkey to espe- cial mention in the annals of the brave. THE "GRAND CANAL." CHAPTER XXIX. 1819 AND 1820. The "Grand Canal." — The Harbor Company. — Supervisors, etc. — Strong Lan- guage.— The International Boundary. — An Indian Council. — Pagans and Christians. — Red Jacket's Question. — Another Execution. — "The People of Grand Island.'" — A .Small Rebellion. — Troops ordered out. — The Squatters Removed. — A Sad Dilemma. — Governor Clark. — Clintonians and Bucktails. — Tracy Reelected. — Other officials. — The Harbor Begun. — Wilkeson turns Engineer. — His Services. — New Post-Offices.— Dr. Colegrove. — Niagara Ag- ricultural Society. — Town-Managers. — Another Church. — The Amateur En- gineer becomes a Judge. — Three New Towns. — New Use for a Psalm-Tune. This chapter will be extended a little beyond the years named in its title; it being most convenient to include the three months of 1 82 1 previous to the forniation of Erie county. More and more the "Grand Canal," as it was generally called, (the name " Erie " was not at first applied to it,) attracted gen- eral attention. At Buffalo and Black Rock, in particular, the question as to which should be the terminal point became of the deepest interest. It was plain that the chances of the former must be gravely injured by the fact that it had no har- bor, and steps to build one were taken by ten of the principal citizens. Of ready money there was almost none in the village. The State passed a law to loan twelve thousand dollars for the required purpose, to be secured by the bonds and mortgages of individuals for twice that amount. If the State officials should approve the harbor when finished, they had the privilege of tak- ing it and cancelling the indebtedness ; if not, the company would have to pay the bonds and reimburse themselves out of tolls. These hard conditions caused all the managers to withdraw, except Charles Townsend, George Coit and Oliver Forward. The last of 18 19 Samuel Wilkeson joined with them, and then the State's offer was accepted. Wilkeson, Forward and Town- send (with whom Coit was associated) gave their separate bonds and mortgages, each for eight thousand dollars. No work, how- STRONG LANGUAGE. 323 ever, could be done till the next year. It .seems strange to learn that, as Judge Wilkeson afterwards stated, no one ever thought of applying to the general government to do a work so plainly belonging to it as that. Like almost everything in this country the canal question found its way into politics. Candidates were interrogated as to their position, and in this part of the State a charge of infidelity to the "Grand Canal" was the most damaging that could be brought. Oliver Forward w^as elected to the assembly in the fall of 18 19, along with Elial T. Foote, of Chautauqua county. Heman B. Potter was appointed district attorney, and Dr. John E. Mar- shall county clerk. The new towns created the year before were organized in 18 19, Gen. Timothy S. Hopkins being elected the first supervisor of Amherst, Ebenezer Holmes of Wales, and Arthur Humphrey of Holland ; Aurora unknown. Those from the other towns were Elijah Leach of Buffalo, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Abner Wilson of Hamburg, John March of Eden, and John Twining of Boston ; Concord unknown. Though politics were rather quiet at this time, there were other subjects in which vigorous language could be used. Said a writer on the Patriot one day, replying to a previous one in the rival sheet: '^Some citizen, in the Journal, with a malignity well worthy of a denizen of the lower region, has been kind enough to empty the Augean stable of his bosom on the late cashier of the Bank of Niagara." "Augean stable of his bosom" is about as strong an ex- pression as can be found in the vocabulary of any modern vituperator. There were some bad boys then, too, as well as now, if one may judge from the terms in which one individual described his ab- sconding apprentice. Apprenticing was more common then than now, and there were a good mau}^ advertisements of run- aways. But a return of the levanting youth w^as probably not much desired by the master who offered " one cent reward " therefor, describing him as about twenty years old, and adding: " He has light complexion, knavi-sh look, quarrelsome disposi- tion, knows more than anybody else, and is a great liar and tattler." 324 THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY. In the forepart of 1819 tlic boundary commission, comin<^ from the east, established the Hne between the United States and Canada along the Niagara, and in July passed on to the west end of Lake Erie. Gen. Porter was the American, and Col. Ogilvie the English commissioner. The principal surveyor on the part of the Americans was William A. Bird, (the well- known Col. Bird, of Black Rock,) who had just succeeded to that post, having previously been assistant. The sovereignty of Grand Island was first decisively settled by this commission, though previously claimed by the United States. It vv'as found by actual measurement of depth, width and velocity that the main channel of the river was on the Canadian side. There passed on that side 12,802,750 cubic feet of water per minute ; on the American side 8,540,080 cubic feet rolled by in the same time. To prove the accuracy of these measurements, the quantity passing Black Rock per minute was calculated by the same method, and found to be 21,549,590 cubic feet, or substantially the same as the sum of the amounts at Grand Island. As, however, the determination of the "main channel" was held by some to involve other considerations than the amount of water, it is possible that Grand Island would not have fallen to the Americans had not a large island in the St. Lawrence just been awarded to Canada. All the small islands in the Ni- agara were also, on account of their location, assigned to the Americans, except Navy island, which fell to Canada. In the summer of 18 19 a strong effort was made by the pre- emption-owners to induce the Indians to sell the whole or a part of their lands. A council was held on the Bufif\\lo reserve, at which were present a commissioner on the part of the United States, one on the part of Massachusetts, Colonel Ogden and some of his associates, and all the principal chiefs of the Sene- cas, Cayugas and Onondagas. After the United States commissioner had explained the ob- ject of the council, and had submitted two propositions, both looking to the sale of the Buffalo Creek reservation, Red Jacket, on the 9th of July, "rekindled the council fire" and made a long speech. As usual he went over the whole ground of the inter- course between the white men and the red men, and declared CHRISTIANS AND PAGANS. 325 most emphatically as the voice of his people that they would not sell their lands, no not one foot of them. Warming with his subject, the indignant orator declared that they would not have a single white man on their reservations — neither work- man, school-master nor preacher. Those Indians who wished could send their children to schools outside, and those who de- sired to attend church could go outside the reservation to do so. He added bitterly that if Colonel Ogden had come down from heaven clothed in flesh and blood, and had proved that the Great Spirit had said he should have their lands, then, and then alone, they would have yielded. Afterwards Captain Pollard and thirteen other chiefs apolo- gized to the commissioner for the language of Red Jacket. Captain Pollard declared that he saw nothing to admire in the old ways of his people, and wished for civilization and Christian- ity. But all were united in opposing the sale of any of their lands, and nothing was effected to that end. By this time two distinct parties had been developed among the Indians. One favored Christianity and improvement, among whom Captain Pollard was the most prominent. Captain Strong, a distinguished chief on the Cattaraugus reservation, also an- nounced himself a Christian. The other faction was devoted to paganism, and resisted every attempt at change, of whom Red Jacket was the unquestioned leader. The great orator had become more and more bitter against everything in anywise pertaining to the white race — except whisky. He was doubtless sincere in the belief that the adop- tion of white customs would work the destruction of his people, and he fought them at every step. He could see the evil wrought through the excessive use of liquor, of which he was himself a most conspicuous example ; he could see that since the arrival of the whites the once mighty Iroquois had dwindled to a few feeble bands dependent on the forbearance of their conquerors, and he could not, or would not, see anything else. Even in minor matters he detested the laws of the whites, and derided their justice. Not far from the time of which I am speaking, an Indian was indicted at Batavia for burglary, in en- tering Joseph Ellicott's house and stealing some trifling article. Red Jacket and other Indians attended the trial, and the latter 7^26 THE sachem's SARCASM. obtained permission to address the jury on behalf of the prisoner (of course through an interpreter). He boldly questioned the jurisdiction of the court, declared that the Senecas were allies, not subjects, of the United States, and said that Indians who committed offenses should be tried by their own laws ; as- serting that if accused persons should be delivered to them the)- would be so tried and, if guilty, duly punished. The culprit was, however, convicted and sentenced to impris- onment for life, which was then the penalty for burglary. At the same time a white man who had stolen a larger amount than the Indian, but without the accompaniment of burglary, was sentenced to only a few years imprisonment. This was a new cause of disgust to the chieftain, who in his youth had lived in a wigwam, to whom a house had none of the sacredness that it has to a white man, and in whose mind, consequently, the crime of theft was not enhanced by that of burglary. Going from the court-house to the tavern, after the session, in company with some lawyers, the old sachem observed the State coat-of-arms painted over the door of a newspaper-office. Point- ing to the representation of Liberty, he mustered his little stock of broken English and inquired : " What— him — call ? " " Liberty," replied one of the legal gentlemen. " Ugh ! " exclaimed the chieftain, in a tone of derision. Then he pointed to the other figure on the coat-of-arms and again asked : " What — him — call .? " "Justice," was the reply. Red Jacket's eye flashed and his lip curled, as he slowly asked, in a tone of mingled inquiry and sarcasm : " W'here — him — live — now .-' " Very likely the sachem knew as well as his companions what the figures represented, and asked the questions merely to make a point. In December, 1819, the second execution for murder took place in the present county of Erie. The crime, however, was committed outside its limits, having been the murder of a sol- dier of the garrison of Eort Niagara, by Corporal John Godfrey, who was impatient at his dilatory movements. "THE PEOPLE OF GRAND ISLAND." 0^/ Again the people assembled in throngs, again the militia com- panies guarded the prisoner, and again the sonorous tones of Glezen Fillmore rolled out deep and strong, as he preached the funeral sermon of the doomed man. But probably the most important event of the year occurred on Grand Island. The stave-cutting squatters, heretofore men- tioned, had been so little disturbed by the civil authorities, (partly because of the difficulty of reaching them, and parti}- because it had not been quite determined whether the island be- longed to the United States or Canada,) that they had grown to consider themselves a kind of independent nation. They set up a sort of government of their own, under which they settled whatever difficulties may have arisen among them- selves, but bade defiance to the authorities on both sides of the river. A Mr. Pendleton Clark, one of the squatters, was recog- nized as "governor" by his fellows, justices of the peace were elected, and precepts were actually issued " in the name of the people of Grand Island." On one occasion a constable crossed to the island to arrest one of these squatter-sovereigns, when several friends of the culprit assembled, put the officer back in his boat, took away his oars and set him adrift on the river. He might very likely have been carried over the Falls, had he not been rescued by a more humane outlaw, living farther down the stream, and taken to the Ameri- can side. Then the authorities of the State, to which all the land be- longed, thought it was time to clear out this nest of offenders. In April, 1 8 19, an act was passed requiring them to leave the island, and in case they did not the governor was authorized to remove them by force. To this they paid no attention. In the fall the governor sent orders to remove the intruders, to Sheriff Cronk. That official transmitted the orders to the trans- gressors, with directions to leave by a specified day. Some obeyed, but over many cabins the smoke continued to curl as saucily as before. The sheriff then called out a detachment of militia, under Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Benjamin Hodge, of Buffalo, and prepared to vindicate the laws by force. On the 9th of Decem- ber, Lieutenant Hodge, with Lieutenant Stephen Osborn, of 328 THE ARMY OF INVASION. Clarence, (afterwards sheriff,) and thirty rank and file, marched down the river from Buffalo to a point opposite the head of the island, to which they crossed by boats, landing about 5 o'clock p. m. The first sergeant of the company was Nathaniel Wilgus, who wrote an account of the expedition for the Buffalo Histo- rical Society, to which I am indebted for many of the facts here related. Rumors of resistance having been rife, muskets were loaded with ball-cartridges, and guards and pickets duly stationed ere the men encamped for the night. As nearly all the squatters were on the western side of the island, the command was marched over there the next morning. It was then divided into three parties ; a vanguard to read the governor's proclamation and help to clear the houses where the parties were willing to leave, a main body to forcibly remove all persons and property re- maining, and a rear-guard to burn the buildings. The boats, which were manned by sailors from the lake, had come around the head of the island, and were in readiness to convey the families to the United States or Canada, as they might choose. With one exception they all preferred Canada. Perhaps they had come from this side, and had good reasons for not wishing to return. That day was occupied in removing people to Canada and burning houses. The next day was devoted to the same work, but there w^as one case that was peculiar. Dwelling in a comfort- able log house, the sheriff found a man and woman living together, who begged piteously to be allowed to remain. They could not make choice between the United States and Canada, for the man said he had a wife living in the former country, and the woman had a husband in the latter. The good-natured sheriff appreciated the terrors of the dilemma, and, on their promising to leave as soon as they could see a clear path of escape, he o-ave them permission to remain a while on their island home, and even furnished them with two quarts of whisky to relieve the tedium of solitude. On the next day (the 1 2th) the party found an old Irishman named Dennison, who with two sons and some helpers was busy putting up houses. He claimed the right to remain, and told the sheriff he had discovered the secret of perpetual motion, in " GOVERNOR " CLARK. 329 which lie would give Colonel Cronk a half interest if the latter would let him stay. The colonel told him to put his "perpetual motion" in use, and leave the island at once. Two more days were devoted to the removal of families and the destruction of buildings, making five days spent on the island by the "army of invasion," besides the time occupied in going and returning. About seventy houses (occupied and un- occupied) were destroyed, and a hundred and fifty-five men, women and children transported to the mainland. Nearly all were desperately poor, and Mr. Wilgus stated that he did not remember of seeing a cow or a hog on the island. There were only about a hundred acres of clearing, all told. While crossing the island, on their return, the troops found one of the precepts before mentioned, "in the name of the people of Grand Island," fastened to the door of a deserted building. The last house visited, and the only one on the eastern shore, was that of "Governor" Pendleton Clark, who had already placed his effects on a scow preparatory to removal. He went to the American side, and not long after bought a tract of land at the point where the Erie canal was expected to enter Tonawanda creek. Here in time a village was built to which he gave his own first name^ — Pendleton — and of which he was long; a respected citizen. Such is a condensed history of the only civil war (and that a bloodless one) ever known within the bounds of Erie county. A few of the dispossessed parties soon returned, but as they kept very quiet, and were careful not to draw attention to them- selves by committing any depredations, they were permitted to remain for several years. Among them w^as "perpetual motion" Dennison, who for fifteen years clung to his possession, and in- sisted on the value of his "motion," with amusing pertinacity. By the beginning of 1820 the Clintonian and Bucktail par- ties were in full blast all over the State. Clinton was of course the leader and candidate of the former, which claimed, and gen- erally received, the benefit of the strong canal feeling which pre- vailed. The latter had to some extent the benefit of the regular Republican organization, and nominated Vice-President Tomp- kins for governor. Clinton was elected by a large majority, though his opponent 330 CLINTOXIANS AND BUCKTAILS. had a few years before been the most popuhir man in the State. In the present count}' of Erie, CUnton received seven hundred and thirty-seven votes, to three hundred and ten for Tompkins. Boston gave tliirty-five votes for Clinton, to one for Tompkins ; Aurora a hundred and sixty-four for CHnton, to twenty for Tompkins ; Wales a hundred and twenty-six for Clinton, to twenty-seven for Tompkins ; and Concord a hundred and twenty-eight for Clinton, to twenty for Tompkins. , The Patriot was the organ of the Bucktails, the Journal of the Clintonians. It should be remembered that there was still a property qualification, which accounts for the small vote. It seems, too, that fraudulent voting was not an unheard of offense in those days, for the Patriot charged that neither Aurora nor Wales had a hundred legal voters, although the former polled a hundred and eighty-four votes, and the latter a hundred and forty-seven. The assemblyman this year was Judge Hotchkiss, from north of the Tonawanda. The young congressman, Albert H. Tracy, was again electeci to the national legislature, as the candidate of the Clintonians. Judge Oliver Forward, of Buffalo, was elected to the State senate, and took a very active part in pro- moting the canal, and bringing it to Buffalo. The supervisors chosen in 1820 were Ebenezer Walden of Buffalo, Oziel Smith of Amherst, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Lemuel Wasson of Hamburg, James Aldrich of Eden, John Twining of Boston, Ebenezer Holmes of Wales, and Arthur Humphrey of Holland. Isaac Phelps, Jr., of Aurora, was ap- pointed a judge of the Common Pleas. One hardly ever thinks of slavery as having existed in P!ric county, and in fact slaves were extremely rare there, even when the institution was tolerated by law. Yet I think there had been two or three colored people permanently held in bondage, besides those brought here by officers during the war. The law of 1 8 18 decreed the gradual abolition of slavery, providing that males under twenty-eight and females under twenty-five should remain slaves until those ages, and allowing none but young slaves to be brought from other states ; in which case the owner was obliged to file an affidavit that they were only to be kept till those ages respectively. The only case in this county under BEGINNING A HARBOR. 33 1 the law, of which I am aware, occurred in 1820. Gen. Porter marrieci a Mrs. Grayson, of Kentucky, daughter of Hon. John Breckenridge, attorney-general of the United States under Jef- ferson, and aunt of the late John C. Breckenridge. She brought five young slaves to Black Rock, and a certified copy of the affi- davit of herself and husband, under the above mentioned law, is now on file in the old town-book of Buffalo. It is surrounded on all sides by records of town-elections, stray heifers and sheep's ear-marks, among which this solitary memento of a pow- erful but fallen institution has a curious and almost startling appearance. It was not merely by voting for Clinton that the Buffalonians sought to build up their town. The all-important work of con- structing a harbor was begun. A superintendent was hired at fifty dollars a month! Cheap as were his services, however, it was soon found that his estimates were too liberal for a twelve- thousand-dollar fund, and he was discharged. No one, however, knew where a better man could be found, and none of the com- pany knew anything about building a harbor. Rather than see the work stop, Mr. Wilkeson abandoned his own business and accepted the superintendency. Once installed he pushed on the work with even more than his wonted energy. The laborers' wages were increased two dollars a month abov^e the ordinary price, to induce them to work in the rain, and then, in all weather, superintendent and subordinates were seen at their task. I have read several reminiscences of that critical period of Buffalo's history, and all agree that to Samuel Wilkeson, more than to any other one man, the city is indebted for its proud commercial position. If Ellicott was its founder, Wilkeson was certainly its preserver. In the spring of 1820 a new mail-route was established, run- ning from Buffalo to Olean, with three new offices in this county — one at " Smithville," more commonly called Smith's Mills, one at " Boston," generally known as Torrey's Corners, and one at " Springville," still in common parlance called Fiddler's Green. Ralph Shepard was the first postmaster at Smithville, Erastus Torrey at Boston, and Rufus C. Eaton at Springville. A post-office had already been located on the lake shore, in ^^2 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. the present town of Evans, but under the name of Eden, which was then the appellation of the whole to\\n. James W. Peters was the first postmaster. Although there was as yet nothing in the shape of a village, nor even a post-office, in Sardinia, yet in 1820 a young physi- cian established himself there, who soon acquired wide renown in the healing art. This was Dr. Bela H. Colegrove, who located at \\ hat has since been called Colegrove's Corners. As a sur- geon, especially, his reputation in time became equal to that of almost any one in Western New York, and he was often called in difficult cases, not only in Erie and the adjoining counties, but as far south as Pennsylvania. He was prominent, also, in political life, and .show^ed himself in all respects a leader among men. In 1820 the first daily mail was established between Buffalo and Albany. The year was also noteworthy for the holding of the first agricultural fair, an important event in those days. It was under the management of the Niagara County Agricultural Society, which had been organized the fall before. Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, Avho had been little heard of for a long time, was its president. The vice-presidents were Arthur Hum- phrey, Asher Saxton, Ebenezer Goodrich, Ebenezer VValden and James Cronk ; the secretary was Joseph W. Moulton ; the treasurer, Reuben B. Heacock ; and the auditor, Heman B. Potter. There was also a board of town-managers, consisting of three in each town, which may be presumed to have comprised some of the leading men, especially farmers, in their respective local- ities. These were Elias Ransom, Adial Sherwood and Elijah Leach, of Buffalo ; William W. Morseman, David P2ddy and Abner Wilson, of Hamburg; Lsaac Phelps, Jr., Jonathan Bowen and Ephraim Woodruff of Aurora ; Richard Buffum, Asa Crook and Samuel Corliss, of Holland ; Ethan Allen, Ebenezer Holmes and Henry B. Stevens, of Wales; John Hill, Benjamin Bowen and John March, of Eden; Belden Slosson, Alexander Hitchcock and Abram Miller, of Amherst; L. Parmcly, M. Cary and Daniel Swain, of Boston. I can find no representation of either Clarence or Concord. The list of premiums offered is noticeable for some seldom OFFICIAL AND NUMERICAL. found on modern catalogues — which in fact would hardly hnd takers if offered. As for instance — for the best fifteen yards of woolen cloth, "made in the family," ten dollars; which is as large as the premium offered for the best two acres of wheat. For the best worsted cloth, "made in the family," six dollars. For the best fine linen, " made in the family," six dollars. For a long time the fair of the Agricultural Society was one of the great events of the year. Everybody, high and low, at- tended, and the proceedings were closed with a ball, which was "•raced by whatever of aristocracy was to be found in the county. The first Episcopal church-building, and the third of any kind in the county, was St. Paul's. The society of that name, at Buffalo, erected a neat edifice in 1820, with a gothic tower and spire, which was consecrated by Bishop Hobart the next February. Almost an entire new set of officers was appointed in Feb- ruary, 1 82 1. Samuel Wilkeson was made first judge of the Common Pleas, and Samuel Russell, Belden Slosson, Robert Fleming and Henry M. Campbell, judges. John G. Camp was appointed sheriff; Roswell Chapin, surrogate ; and James L. Barton, county clerk. The selection of Mr. Wilkeson for the office of "first judge " had been strongly opposed by some, on the ground that he was not an attorney. He w^as, however, earnestly supported by his friends, and after his appointment his native common sense, firmness and diligence enabled him to fulfill his duties accepta- bly to the community. By the census of 1820 the population of the whole of Ni- agara county was 23,313, of which 15,668 were in the present county of Erie. These numbers were considered sufficient to justify a division, and the northern part of the county was anx- ious to have its business transacted nearer home than Buffalo ; a desire which was gratified by the legislature of 1821. Just before the division of the county, three new towns were created. By a law of the i6th of March, 182 i, all that part of Eden comprised in township Eight, range Nine, was formed into a new town named Evans. This was a little larger than an or- dinary township, being nearly nine miles east and west on its 334 EVANS, COLLINS AND SARDINLV. southern boundar)-, and thence narrowed by the lake to about four miles and a half on its northern boundary. By the same law the excessively long town of Concord was subdivided into three towns. That part comprised in townships Six and Seven, range Eight, and in three tiers of lots on the west side of townships Six and Seven, range Seven, was formed into a new town named Collins. That part comprised in town- ship Seven, range Five, and three tiers of lots on the east side of township Seven, range Six, and in the portion of township Six, range Six, north of Cattaraugus creek, was formed into a new town named Sardinia. Collins was named by Turner Aldrich, the most prominent of the old settlers, after his wife's maiden name. General Nott states in his reminiscences that he named Sardinia after his favor- ite psalm-tune. He says that " Concord," " Wales " and " Sar- dinia " were all well known tunes in the old psalm-book, " Sar- dinia" being his especial delight. Seeing that "Wales" and " Concord " were immortalized by their names being given to towns, he determined that his own favorite should receive equal glory. So he claimed his privilege as the oldest resident, and succeeded in getting the new town named Sardinia. THE NEW COUNTY. 335 CHAPTER XXX. MISCELLANEOUS. The New County. — Niagara Perpetuated. — Change of Characteristics. — Change of Names. — White's Corners. — Abbott's Corners. — A Black W^olf. — An Effect- ive Blow. — A Curious Couple. — A Wolf's Strategy. — Trapped and Slain. — An Impromptu Gallows. — Pigeons. — Black Rock. — Condition of Buffalo. — Some of its Lawyers. — Anecdotes of John Root. On the second day of April, 1821, a law wa.s passed, enacting that all that part of the county of Niagara north of the center of Tonawanda creek should be a separate county, by the name of Niagara, while the remainder should thenceforth be known as Erie. Thus at length was formed and named the great county, the annals of which I have the honor to record. It had the bound- aries specified in the first chapter, and those boundaries it has ever since retained. As stated in chapter eighteen, the old county of Niagara was perpetuated in most respects in the county of Erie rather than in the one that bore the ancient name, since the former retained more than half the area, two thirds of the population, the county seat, the county records and most of the county officers. In every respect except the name, Erie is a continuation of old Niagara, organized in 1808, while the present Niagara is a new county, organized in 1821. Doubtless the reason for giving the old name to the smaller and less important county was because the great cataract, which makes Niagara's name renowned, was on its borders, and it was felt that there would be an incongruity in conferring the name on a county which, at its nearest point, was three miles distant from the famous Falls. (Even this is probably nearer than most people suppose, but it is a trifle less than three miles from the cataract to the lower end of Buckhorn island.) The reader and the author have now arrived at a turning point in the history of the county. Not only was its name changed, 336 CIIANGK OF CHARACTERISTICS. but it SO happens that that chanijc is very closely identical in time with an important change in its general character. Hith- erto it had been a pioneer county. Henceforth it might fairly be called a farming county. There was no particular year that could be selected as the epoch of change, but 1821 comes very close to the time. Previ- ously the principal business had been to clear up land. As a general rule, there was little money with w^hich to build comfort- able houses, little time even to raise large crops, except in a few localities. After a time not far from 182 1, although there was still a great deal of land-clearing done, yet it could not be called the principal business of the county. - The raising of cattle and grain for market assumed greater im- portance, and in fact from that time forward, the county taken as a whole, though still a uezvisJi country, would hardly be called a new country. Yet there were a few townships almost entirely covered with forest, and everywhere the characteristics of the pioneer era were closely intermingled with those of a more ad- vanced period. Probably the most conspicuous manner in which the change was manifested to the eye was by the material of the houses. Hitherto, log houses had been the dwelling-places of nearly all the people outside of the village of Buffalo. Even the little vil- lages, which had sprung up in almost every township, were largely composed of those specimens of primeval architecture. But with improved circumstances came improved buildings. .■\fter the time in question, a majority of the new houses erected in the county were frames, and every year saw a rapid increase in the proportion of that class of buildings over the log edifices of earlier day.s. When Erie county was named it contained thirteen towns. At that time there were but ten post-offices in it, but there were several others established a little later. The ten were situ- ated at Buffalo, Black Rock, Williamsville, Clarence, Willink, Smithville, Barkersville, Boston, Springville, and Eden. The Eden post-office, as has been said, was in Evans, on the lake shore. That of "Barkersville" was at the old Barker stand in Hamburg, at the "head of the turnpike." "Willink " was at Aurora villasfe. white's corners, ABBOTT'S CORNERS, ETC. 33/ Besides these there had been one, and probably there was still one, called "Hamburg," at John Green's tavern. Although the post-office at what is now Hamburg village had been called "Smithville," yet the name never stuck, and even the old one of " Smith's Mills " began to fade away. Thomas T. White had lately settled at that point, engaging heavily in busi- ness, the Smiths had sold their mills to other parties, and ere long the place began to be known as "White's Corners." This was its only name for over forty years, and it is still generally known by it, notwithstanding its present legal title, "Hamburg." Mr. Seth Abbott also moved to the place previously known as "Wright's Corners," not far from this time, and built a large public house there. His son, Henry Abbott, engaged in trade there, the old name fell into use, and for over half a century the little village has been known only as Abbott's Corners. At mo.st of the post-offices mentioned, there was the nucleus of a village, but there was none at " Barkersville," nor at the " Eden " post-office, in Evans. Whatever of metropolitan pos- sibilities there were in the latter town manifested themselves at "Wright's Mills," which ere long began to be called "Evans Center," but where there was as yet no post-office. There were also the nuclei of villages, but without post-offices, at " Cayuga Creek" (Lancaster), Alden, Hall's Mills (or Hall's Hollow), Holland, Griffin's Mills, East Hamburg and Gowanda. Notwithstanding these signs of improvement, and the general transformation of the county from a land-clearing to a land- tilling district, the farmers met with incessant discouragement. Keeping sheep was their especial difficulty, yet sheep must be kept, for there was no money to buy clothes. The wolves were almost as troublesome in peace as the Indians in war. Besides the gray-backed prowlers, an occasional bold, black wolf was seen, though very rarely. One, which had killed over fifty sheep in Lancaster, came into the open fields within a fur- long of Mr. Clark's house in the day time, and caught another. Young James Clark and his brother saw the raid but were un- able to prevent its successful execution. They, however, set a trap for the dark slayer, and had the good fortune to catch him. The bounty then was ten dollars. Afterwards it was, in some towns, from sixty to ninety dollars ; whelps half-price. An 338 AX EFFKCTIVK BLOW. Indian is rcpcM-tcd to have made $360 in one forenoon, catching young wolves. It was generally supposed that many hunters, both Indians and whites, were in the habit of letting old she- wolves escape — in fact of guarding against their discovery by others — in order to get an annual revenue from the whelps. In this case it was the wolf that laid the golden eggs. On several occasions the citizens in different parts of the county got up grand wolf-hunts, forming long lines and beating the woods for miles, or trying to enclose them in circles, but I have heard of none that were successful. The " Anaconda Sys- tem " did not work any better then than in later years. The wily marauders always found a loop-hole of escape. While these elaborate preparations usually failed, one of these public enemies was frequently slain by the simplest means. A Mr. Patterson, living a little south of Mr. Oren Treat's, in Aurora, is said by that gentleman and others to have killed one, near 1820, at a single blow. Hearing a noise in a kind of outside pan- try attached to his house, he picked up an unloaded gun and ran out. A big wolf jumped out of the pantry window. With all his might Patterson struck him with the breech of his gun, and his wolfship fell to the ground. On bringing a light the old musket was found to be broken short off at the breech, and the wolf lay stone dead ; the single, well-directed blow having broken his nock. But the most remarkable of these primitive raiders, and the only one for whose exploits I have further room, was an old she- wolf which infested the territory of Collins and North Collins. According to Messrs. Wheeler and Hale before mentioned, Mr. George Southwick, of Gowanda, and others, she was a marauder of most surprising intelligence and accomplishments. In that she slaughtered sheep, she was like the rest of her race. But her especial forte was to form an intimate acquaint- ance with most of the large dogs of the vicinity. Those that she could not tempt into forbidden paths she fought with and whipped, and thus she was mistress of the situation so far as the canine race was concerned. Her most particular friend was a dog belonging to Levi Woodward, in the present town of North Collins. This canine Antony and lupine Cleopatra would roam the fields at night A STRANGE COUPLE. 339 in company, killing sheep by the dozen, and retire to the swamps in the day-time. Frequently a number of men would turn out and follow them, but without avail, and they would perhaps come back the very next night and kill more sheep. The dog occasionally came around his master's house, but it was thought best not to kill him, as if was hoped he might be used to cause the destruction of the more dangerous offender. So a bell was put on him, and he was left to seek the company of his mistress, the project being that when that bell was heard at night some one should get up and kill the wolf. But she would never go by a house in his company. The bell has been heard coming along a road, toward a lonely house, when the owner would arise and wait, with loaded rifle, the ap- pearance of the great marauder. But presently the dog would go trotting along, alone. The next morning it would be seen by the tracks that, while the dog trotted carelessly by, the w^olf had gotten over the fence some distance from the house, gone around, and reentered the road on the other side. At length the people of the neighborhood three miles south- ward from North Collins became satisfied that she had a litter of whelps in the vicinity, and thought they could at least cap- ture them, even if the old one was too much for them. They made up a company of fourteen, which searched the woods until at length the prize was found in a lair made in the boughs of a basswood, which had been felled for browse. Seven puppy-whelps, half-dog, half-wolf, were taken from the lair, and just as the last one was drawn out, the maternal head of the family put in an appearance, a short distance away. The men seized their guns, but, ere one of them could take aim, the madam comprehended the situation and vanished in the forest. The scalps of her unfortunate family were taken to Springville, and thirty dollars apiece received for them from the proper offi- cials, sixty dollars being the bounty on full-grown wolves. Young Hale, who was one of the party of fourteen, received fifteen dollars for his share. Since the whelps were only half- wolf, a question might have been raised by casuists as to whether the captors w^ere entitled to more than half the usual bounty, but since both father and mother were sheep-killers, probably the officials thought the spirit of the law was complied with. 340 IGNOMINIOUS EXECUTIONS. Madam Wolf did not return to that neighborhood, but estab- hshed herself on the farm of Samuel Tucker, about a mile from North Collins, and began to make her accustomed raids. Mr. T. determined to ensnare her, but knew that she had always avoided traps with remarkable skill, and therefore took extra precautions. Having killed a calf, he placed a part of it in a corn- field, putting in the midst of the bait a common fo.x-trap which had been dipped in melted tallow, and heavily coated with that material. This destroyed the smell of the iron, and the gray depredator was at last outwitted and caught. A heavy clog being attached to the trap, she was unable to drag it away, and daylight revealed her misfortune to her enemies. Word was sent out, and the men and boys from miles around assembled to see the dreaded foe of the sheepfold. She was slain amid universal rejoicing, and Mr. Tucker received sixty dollars for her scalp. Her canine friend met with a still more ignominious fate. One Sunday he ventured to approach a house whence all the family had gone to a Quaker meeting, save one woman. Recognizing the sheep-slayer, she determined on his destruction, but having no fire-arms, or not knowing how to use them, she was obliged to depend on strategy. First she arranged a rope into a slip-noose. , Ne.xt she pulled down the long, heavy well-sweep and fastened it to the curb. Then giving the dog some food, she invited him up to the well, managed to slip the noose over his neck, fastened it to the small end of the sweep, and loosened the sweep from the curb. The heavy end went down with a rush, and in an instant the sheep- killer was hanging a dozen feet above the ground. Besides the four-footed wild game, pigeons were a frequent resource in their season, especially for the Indians. Not merely the few that can be shot as they fly, but the vast numbers that can be obtained from their nests. The banks of the Cattarau- gus were celebrated as their resorts, and a little west of Spring- ville, on both sides of the creek, there were millions of nests. The whole tribe used to go out from Buffalo creek to get a supply. They were obtained by cutting down the trees, and of this, as of all other work, the squaws at that time did the greater part. Mr. C. C. Smith, of Springville, says he has seen the BLACK ROCK AND BUFFALO. 34 1 squaws cut down trees from two to three feet through, getting fifty or sixty nests from one tree. Each nest contained a single "squab," that is a fat young pigeon, big enough to eat, but not big enough to fly. Occasionally, but very rarely, there were two in a nest. These were scalded, salted and dried by the thou- sand, furnishing food most acceptable to the Indians and not despised by the whites. While the country was thus divided between raising crops, starting villages and hunting game,,the embryo city at the head of the Niagara was beginning to make rapid progress. At the time of the formation of Erie county it had nearly two thousand inhabitants. Black Rock, too, which had long remained an insignificant hamlet, was now rapidly advancing, and was making desperate efforts to secure the termination of the grand canal. General Porter had returned home from his work of locating the inter- national boundary, had resumed a portion of his former influ- ence, and was the leader of the Black Rock forces in their con- test with Buffalo. As Black Rock still had the only harbor in the vicinity, as not a ship was built at, nor sailed from, any other American port within a hundred miles, her chances of success appeared good, and the little village grew even faster than Buffalo. It was mostly situated on Niagara street, at the foot of the hill north of the site of Fort Porter. In Buffalo, the main part of the business was transacted on Main street, between Crow (Exchange) street and the court- house park. There were also numerous residences in the same quarter. Other dwellings, more or less scattered, occupied parts of Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora streets, for these were still the appellations of the highways now known respect- ively as Ellicott, Washington, Pearl and Franklin. There were also a few dwellings on the cross-streets. The town was sup- posed to be rich enough, and the people gay enough, so that some one had built a place of entertainment called the Buffalo Theater, but there are indications that it was not very largely patronized. Near Chippewa market there was a swampy place, and a gully carried its waters toward the river, crossing Main street 342 THE BAR IN 1 820. near Chippewa. All the northeastern part of the present city was low ground, unoccupied and untilled. Not far up Busti avenue (Genesee street) there was a log causeway, whither the girls and boys went in summer to pick the blackberries growing beside it. As far up as Cold Spring, an irregular line of forest came up to within from forty to a hundred rods of Main street. About this time, or a little later, after a grand squirrel-hunt, lasting all one day. the two parties of hunters, which had been led by two young lawyers, Frederick B. Merrill and Joseph Clary, met the next day to count their game at a spring near Delaware street, just north of Virginia. They selected that place because there the woods came from the west to Delaware street, affording a pleas- ant shade. Mr. Clary was a new addition to the Erie county bar, in which he afterwards took a fair rank. There were none as yet, how- ever, of that remarkable galaxy of lawyers who, fifteen years later, made the bar of Erie county celebrated throughout the State. Albert H. Tracy was probably the peer in intellect of any of them, but he devoted himself largely to politics, and seldom appeared in the legal arena. Potter, VValden, Harrison, Sheldon, 'Clary, Moseley, Moulton. and "Old Counselor Root" were the leading practitioners. Sheldon Smith came a little later. Counselor John Root, a big, round-shouldered, slouching man, whose practice was beginning to decline on account of drink and idleness, was the " charac- ter" of the Erie county bar in 1820. Two-thirds of the jokes and sharp sayings related by the older members of the bar, are attributed to "Old Counselor Root." As in other cases of a similar kind, it is quite likely that he has been saddled with more than is really chargeable to him, but there is no doubt of his great readiness in repartee and tact in management. H. W. Rogers, Esq., has collected a number of anecdotes of Mr. Root, in his essay before the Historical Society, entitled, " Wits of the Buffalo Bar." Some of them I will transfer into this " Miscellaneous " chapter, to give a side-light on the men and manners of half a century ago. He was not inclined to spare even the court, and on one occa- sion, when somewhat excited by liquor, in commentmg on an " OLD COUNSELOR ROOT. ' 343 adverse decision of the judge, he dechired that it could only be compared with the celebrated decree of Pontius Pilate. "Sit down, Mr. Root, sit down," angrily exclaimed the judge; "you are drunk, sir." The old counselor slowly sank into his chair, saying, in rather low tones, but loud enough to be heard by all around : "That is the only correct decision your honor has- made during the whole term." The court and bar were compelled to laugh, and Root escaped without further censure. Some time afterwards a young lawyer, who perhaps thought he could be as brusque before the court as the old counselor, re- ceived an unfavorable decision with the indignant exclamation that he was astonished at the judgment of the court. He was immediately arraigned for contempt. Finding himself in trouble, he besought Root to help him. The latter drew himself up to the utmost of his great height, and, in the most solemn and dignified manner, besought the court to pardon the offender. " I know," said he, " that our brother is to blame. But he is young — quite young. If he had been at this bar as long as I have, your honor, he would long since have ceased to be aston- ished at any decision which this honorable court might make." The Court of Common Pleas, in the absence of its first judge, was once held by the senior side-judge. Not being overstocked with brains, and being entirely without experience as a presiding judge, business dragged sadly under his administration. The lawyers made irrelevant motions and interminable speeches, and the court was powerless to control them. One morning the temporary presiding judge and several lawyers, among whom was Root, met in the court-house hall, just before the time for opening court. Something was said about the slowness of the proceedings, when the judge observed: 'T only wish some way could be devised for shortening the lawyers' tongues." "Perhaps, your honor," said the old counselor quietly, "the same object could be effected by shortening the judges' ears." In those times a charivari, or "horning," was the frequent accompaniment of a wedding. On one occasion, occurring in Amherst or Clarence, the father and brothers of the bride re- sented the advent of the discordant crowd around their home by 344 A FERTILE SOIL. firing on them with guns loaded with peas, wounding two or three of the number. For this they were duly indicted and brought to trial. Counselor Root defended them. One of the wounded persons, a rough, unkempt-looking fellow, testified to the shooting, and to being hit with peas in the calf of the leg. On the cross-examination, Root insisted that he should pull up the leg of his pantaloons and show where he was shot. The witness hesitated but did as requested, displaying a limb thickly covered with dirt. It looked as if it had never known the use of soap or water. "There" said he, pointing to a spot even more thickly in- crusted than the rest, "is where the peas went in." "And when," queried Root, "did the shooting occur.?" "About six weeks ago," replied the witness. "Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed the counselor, "if there had been any peas planted in that soil six weeks ago, they would have been four inches high by this time!" OFFICIAL AND POSTAL. 345 CHAPTER XXXI. 1821 TO 1824. Official and Postal. — Military and Journalistic. — Dramatic Scenes. — Kauquatau Condemned. — The Flight and the Return. — The Wiles of So-onongise. — The Execution. — The Arrest. — A Primitive Court-room. — The Trial. — Red Jacket's Philippic. — Impotent Conclusion. — Ellicott's Resignation. — Tiie Old- est Physician. — A Sardinia Merchant. — Buffalo Harbor. — Ingenious Channel- Cutting. — A Warlike Pile-driver. — Loss of the Walk-in-the- Water. — A Haz- ardous Bond. — First Work on the Canal. — New Constitution. — Officers under it.^Oiher Officials. — Millard Fillmore. — A Vigorous Race. — Alden and Eric. — "Cayuga Creek." — Beginning at Tonawanda. — Other Matters. — An Uneventful Year. — Easier Payments. In the spring of 1821 Judge Forward was elected to the State senate, but neither of the two assemblymen from this district were residents of Erie county. Roswell Chapin was appointed surrogate in place of Dr. Johnson. Later in the season Samuel Russell was chosen a delegate to the State constitutional con- vention. The supervisors for the year, so far as known, were Ebenezcr Walden of Buffalo, Oziel Smith of Amherst, O. R. Hopkins of Clarence, Ebenezer Holmes of Wales, Lemuel Wasson of Hamburg, James Green of Eden, John Twining of Boston, Mitchell Corliss of Holland, Elihu Rice of Sardinia, and John Lawton of Collins. A new post-office was established during the year at East Hamburg, with Lewis Arnold as postmaster, and one at Wales, with Wm. A. Burt as postmaster. The latter gentleman had pre- viously begun the business of merchandising in Wales, by sell- ing a few goods in his house, according to the custom before spoken of From one of the "military commissions" so fre- quently published at this era, one learns that in 1821, Abner Currier, of Holland, was made colonel, and Josiah Emery, of Aurora, lieutenant-colonel, of the 170th regiment of infantry; Hiram Yaw, of Boston, colonel of the 48th regiment, and Robert Kerr, lieutenant-colonel. About this time Truman Cary resigned a commission as lieutenant-colonel. Necessarily, 34^ STAKTI.IXt; EVENTS. 1 mention only the officers of whom there happens to be a record. Frederick Richmond, of SprinLj'ville, was a brig^adier-y^eneral about the same time. The change of name of the county made it necessary for the two newspapers in it to drop their old appellations. So the Ni- agara Patriot (whilom the Buffalo Gazette) became the Buffalo Patriot, and the Niagara Journal, the Buffalo Journal. Scarcely had the county of P^rie entered on its separate career, when there occurred within its limits a series of events of start- ling and dramatic character, which show as vividly as anything in American history how closely civilization treads upon the footsteps of barbarism — how narrow in our country is the space which separates the bloody rites of the savage council from the stately deliberations of the Anglo-Saxon tribunal. The facts in the case are derived from Stone's Life of Red Jacket, the papers of the period, and the reminiscences of Mr. James Aigin. In the spring of 182 1 a Seneca Indian died of some lingering disease, the nature of which was incomprehensible by the medi- cine-men. They accordingly attributed it to sorcery, and desig- nated as the culprit a squaw named Kauquatau, who had nursed the deceased during his sickness. A council was assembled, and, after such evidence as the case admitted of, Kauquatau was solemnly pronounced guilty, and sentenced to death. The frightened woman fled to Canada. The Indians w-ere shrewd enough not to attempt her execution there, nor even in the United States, off from their own reserva- tion. Some of them followed her to Canada, and by some means, doubtless by false promises of security, persuaded her to recross the Niagara. Among her betrayers was the chief, So-onongise, common!)- called by the whites Tommy Jimmy, who had been secretly ap- pointed her executioner. On the second day of May, Mr. Aigin states that he saw Tommy Jimmy treating Kauquatau from a bottle of whisky, in the streets of Buffalo. The blandishments of the chieftain and the quality of his liquor were too much for poor Kauquatau, and toward night she accompanied her pre- tended friend across the reservation line, which, as will be re- membered, ran close to the village. No sooner had she done so than the friend disappeared and the EXECUTION ()1<- A WITCH. 347 executioner showed himself. Drawing his knife, Tommy Jimmy seized the wretched woman and cut her throat, killing her on the instant. Then, leaving her on the ground where he had slain her, making no attempt to conceal the body, he strode off to the Indian village, doubtless feeling that he had done his country good service. The next morning she was found by the whites, lying near Buffalo creek, only a short distance above Pratt's ferry. A cor- oner's inquest was held, and, as the Indians made no conceal- ment, it was easily ascertained that Tommy Jinmiy was the murderer. It appears to have been the first event of the kind which had become known in Erie county, though Mary Jem- ison says there was scarcely a year passed, while the tribe lived on the Genesee, that one or more persons (generally wo- men) were not killed as witches. The claim of sovereignty over the reservation, set up by the Indians, did not reconcile the whites to the shocking occurrence, and it was determined to bring the slayer to trial. Stephen G. Austin, then a young lawyer and justice of the peace, issued a warrant. The constable to whom it was first given objected to going out among a tribe of savages to arrest one of their most popular chiefs, and Pascal P. Pratt, uncle of the gentleman who now bears that name, was deputized for the purpose. He was well acquainted with Tommy Jimmy and was a particular friend of Red Jacket. Pratt found the culprit at the house of the orator. Making known his mission, he advised them to yield peacefully, and make whatever defense they might have, before the courts. Red Jacket pledged himself that Tommy Jinmiy should appear before Austin the next day, and Pratt departed, perfectly satis- fied that he would come. Punctually, at the hour appointed, Sagoyewatha and So-onon- gise came before the young justice of the peace, accompanied by a crowd of other Indians. The whites, also, gathered in numbers, and, as Austin's office was small, he held his court on a pile of timber across the road from it. The slaying was ad- mitted, the jurisdiction of the whites denied, and the victim de- clared to be. a witch, executed in accordance with Indian law. Austin, however, committed the slayer to jail, to take his trial in a higher court. 34^ A RK.MARKAIJLK TRIAL. So-onongisc, alias Tommy Jimmy, was duly indicted for murder. The Indians obtained the assistance of able counsel, who put in a plea to the jurisdiction of the court, claiming that Kauquatau was executed in accordance with Indian law, on In- dian land. This was denied by the district-attorney, and the question was sent to a jury for trial. Thus it was that at the Erie county Oyer and Terminer, in June, 1 82 1, there occurred one of the most singular trials re- corded in legal annals. The court-house was crowded by a motley throng of red men and white men, the latter drawn by curiosity, the former by intense interest in the fate of their brother, and intense anxiety regarding their own privileges. All the lights of the Buffalo bar were there, eager to know how this curious legal complication would result. Tommy Jimmy, a middle-aged and fairly intelligent Indian, though the center of observation, sat perfectly unmoved, and doubtless considered himself a martyr. By his side was Red Jacket, acting as amateur counsel, and wearing his stateliest de- meanor. He still had sufficient self-control to force himself into a few days sobriety on great occasions, and was in full posses- sion of iiis faculties. When the jurors were called he scanned every man with his piercing eye, formed his opinion as to his bias, and communicated to the regular counsel his decision in favor of acceptance or rejection. After several other witnesses had been sworn. Red Jacket was put on the stand by the counsel for the accused. The prosecut- ing attorney sought to exclude him by inquiring if he believed in a God. "More truly than one who could ask me such a question," was his haughty reply. When asked what rank he held in his nation, he answered contemptuously : "Look at the papers which the white people keep the most carefully; they will tell you what 1 am." He referred to the treaties,which ceded the Indian lands to the whites. Like" the other Indians he testified that the woman had been condemned by a regular council, in accordance with immemo- rial law, and that So-onongise had been duly authorized to exe- cute the decree. Seeing, or imagining, that some of the lawyers RED JACKETS PHILIPPIC. 349 were disposed to ridicule his views of witchcraft, he broke out in a fierce phiHppic, which, as interpreted, was thus pubHshed in the Albany Argus, one of whose editors was present : "What! Do you denounce us as fools and bigots because we still believe what you yourselves believed two centuries ago ? Your black-coats thundered this doctrine from the pulpit, your judges pronounced it from the bench, and sanctioned it with the formalities of law ; and would you now punish our unfortunate brother for adhering to the faith of his fathers and of yours ? Go to Salem ! Look at the records of your own government, and you will find that thousands have been executed for the very crime which has called forth the sentence of condemna- tion against this woman, and drawn down upon her the arm of vengeance. What have our brothers done more than the rulers of your people ? And what crime has this man committed, by executing in a summary way the laws of his country and the command of the Great Spirit .'" As Red Jacket had certainly not read the story of Salem witchcraft, he must have informed himself by conversation be- fore the trial, doubtless for the express purpose of making a well-studied point against the pale-faces. His appearance as he delivered his philippic, his tall form drawn up to its utmost height, his head erect and his black eye flashing with ire, is said to have been impressive in the extreme. On the question of fact submitted to them, the jury found that Kauquatau was really executed in accordance with Indian law. The legal question still remained as to whether this would exempt him from punishment. The case was removed by certio- rari to the Supreme Court, where it was argued the ensuing August. The result was a most lame and impotent conclusion of so dramatic a trial. No judgment was rendered. The court, being unable to deny that the Indians had from the beginning been recognized to a certain extent as independent peoples, and yet unwilling to decide that they had absolute authority to com- mit murder, permitted the discharge of the prisoner by the consent of the attorney-general. Laws were afterwards passed, subjecting the Indians to the same penalties for crimes as the whites. In the autumn of 182 1 Joseph Ellicott, the founder of Buf- falo, resigned the local agency of the Holland Company, which he had held for twenty-one years. There had been considerable 350 ELLICOTTS RETIREMENT. dissatisfaction on the part of the settlers, during the latter years of his administration, but it principalh' originated in the difficulty of keeping up the pa)-ments on their lands, in the hard times succeeding the war. Probably the chief fault of the corn- pan}' and its agents was in permitting men to buy large tracts without any substantial payment in advance, and in letting the occupants get so far in arrears as they did during the first ten or fifteen years. There is nothing like a steady, gentle pres- sure to stimulate industry and compel frugality. Mr. E.'s mind was still clear, but he had already developed that tendency toward hypochondria which, after five years of inaction, led to the insanity and final suicide of one who had been for two de- cades the most influential man in Western New York. Jacob S. Otto, of Philadelphia, took his place as local agent. Among the new comers was one Avho has had an exceptional career. Dr. George Sweetland, then about twenty-three years old, located himself, in 1821, in the woods where now stands the little village of East Evans, and began practicing as a physi- cian. During all the fifty-five years since that time he has re- mained at the same place, engaged in the duties of his profes- sion, being now the oldest and earliest practitioner in Erie county. In the earlier part of his professional career, he fre- quently visited Eden, Hamburg and Collins, riding on horse- back as was the wont of country doctors. Sometimes, \\hen the roads were at their worst, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, and went on foot five or six miles to visit a patient. Now, of course, his range is more circumscribed, but he still bravely up- holds the banner of P^sculapius, which he unfurled fifty-five years ago. In the same year Chauncey Hastings opened the first store in what is now Sardinia village, and the first of any consequence in the town. There were then but three houses in the "village." He was the only merchant there for over twenty-five years. Afterwards he built a hotel which he kept for an equal length of time, being, as may easily be seen, the principal business man of the town. As soon as spring opened in 182 1, superintendent Wilkeson recommenced work on the Buffalo harbor. The mouth of the creek was sixty rods north of where it now is, the stream run- UNIQUE ENGINEERING. 351 ning- for that distance nearly parallel with the lake. The ridge between them wa.s found to be of gravel, so solid that it could not be removed, (as w^as necessary to make a new mouth and a straight channel,) by manual labor, without immense expen.se. The method adopted was so ingenious as to be worthy of es- pecial mention. A stout dam was built across the creek just below where it turned to the north. Then a small opening was made in the gravel at the end of the dam next the lake, when the imprisoned water rushed around it, tearing out a great hole in the ridge. Then the dam was advanced still further westward, and the stream re- moved more gravel. The process was repeated until a straight channel, large enough for small vessels, was cut clear through into the lake. In this and other parts of the work it was absolutely neces- sary to have a pile-driver, and impossible to get one of the usual make. So one was improvised for the occasion, the ham- mer being composed of an old mortar which had been used in the war of 1812. The trunnions were knocked off, and it served the needs of peace better, I am afraid, than it had those of war. The harbor was completed in the summer of 1821, two hun- dred and twenty-one working days having been occupied in its construction. In November, Lake Erie lost the pioneer of her steam-marine, the solitary and celebrated Walk-in-the-Water. Having just left Black Rock one afternoon, and being struck by a squall about four miles above Bird Island, she lay at anchor all night, and the next morning was driven ashore near the light-house. No lives were lost, but the \Valk-in-the-\\'ater had sustained such serious injuries that she ceased forever from her aquatic pedestrianism. Steps, however, were immediately taken to supply her place; and in January, 1822, an agent of an eastern company came on to select a place to build a new steamer, and make a contract for the same. He was directed to build at Buffalo, unless he should be satisfied that its harbor was not available. He went to Black Rock first, and its people soon satisfied him that the new harbor was useless, laying especial stress on the assertion that it would remain filled with ice after the lake was clear in the spring. The 352 A HAZARDOUS BARGAIN. agent thereupon made arrangements to build at Black Rock, and went to Bufifalo to have the papers drawn. The BufTalonians heard what was going on, and an excited crowd gathered around the hotel where he was staying. To have it decided that their harbor was not fit to build a steam- boat in might be ruinous. It was rumored that the agent was about to return east the ne.xt morning, and no time was to be lost. Judge Wilkeson was deputed to wait on him. His only instructions were to get the steamboat. "Make any arrangement you think necessary," said the citi- zens, "and we will stand by you." The committee of one entered the agent's room, introduced himself, and asked why he did not propose to build at Buffalo, as his principals expected. That gentleman gave the reasons which had prompted his action, naming especially the danger that the steamer would be detained by ice. Wilkeson promptly replied : "We will furnish timber at a quarter less than Black Rock prices, and give a judgment-bond with ample security, provid- ing for the payment of a hundred and fifty dollars for every day the boat shall be detained in the creek, beyond the first of May." The offer was at once accepted, the necessary arrangements were made, a contractor was found for the timber, and the bond agreed upon was signed by nearly every responsible citizen. The building of the vessel soon began, and went steadily forward. As spring approached the citizens looked for a freshet to clear out the loose sand, gravel, etc., which still remained in the har- bor. A freshet did come, but, as there was a large bank of ice at the new mouth of the creek, the high water carried an im- mense amount of sediment upon it, making a formidable dam. Several expedients were tried for removing it, but without avail Meanwhile the first of May was approaching. At length it was evident that extraordinary exertions must be made, or the citizens would be saddled with a bill for damages on their bond, which at that time would have been enormous. A subscription of $1,361 was raised ; a little in ca.sh, the rest in goods or labor. Dr. Johnson subscribed the largest sum, $110, "in goods at cash prices." The other amounts ranged from a hundred dollars THE CANAL BEGUN. 353 down to two. One man subscribed "a certain brown cow with a white head, to be appraised by the harbor commissioners." By the energetic use of the aid thus provided, a channel was cut through b}- the ist of May. On that day the steamboat, which bad been named the "Superior," went down to test it. The work was still incomplete and the channel dangerous, but the pilot was a Bufifalonian who thoroughly understood the track ; he took the Superior safely through and the bond was cancelled. All this while there had been a continuous contest between the Bufifalonians and Black Rockers, to influence the canal com- missioners in the selection of a terminus. The Black Rock men also built a pier to enclose a harbor, and General Porter's influence was strong in favor of his village. In this as in other contests Judge Wilkeson led the Bufifalonians, and his arguments before the commissioners and other ofificials, though perhaps lacking in grace, and delivered with all the energy of the most energetic of men, went straight to the point and were eminently effective. At length the controversy was decided in favor of Buffalo, and on the 9th of August, 1823, work on the grand canal was begun in Erie county. Ground was broken near the Commer- cial-street bridge, in Buffalo. There was of course a celebration, including procession, speech-making, etc. The assembled crowd were so eagerly interested in the great work that they did not content themselves with the formal removal of a few spadefuls, but fell in procession behind the contractor's ploughs, and fol- lowed them for half a mile, with music playing and cannon firing. "Then," says the account, "they partook of a beverage furnished by the contractor," and afterwards dispersed with vociferous cheers. During the summer of 1822, a new State constitution was formed, and adopted by the people. By its provisions sheriffs and county clerks were to be elected by the people instead of appointed — each holding for three years. Justices of the peace and district-attorneys were appointed by the judges of the Common Pleas and the board of supervisors, acting conjointly. All other judicial officers were appointed by the governor and senate. Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties became the thirtieth congressional district, entitled to one 354 OFFICIAL. MII.ri'ARV AND POSTAL. member. At tlii.s time, too, the date of holding- elections was changed from April to November. Accordingly, in the fall of 1822, Wray S. Littlefield, of Ham- burg, was elected sheriff, and Jacob A. Barker, of Buffalo, son of the pioneer judge, Zenas Barker, was chosen county clerk. At the same time Albert H. Tracy was elected to Congress for the third time. Considering that he was still on the sunny side of thirt)-, his success was something astonishing. Ebenezer F. Norton, a Buffalo lawyer, was chosen member of assembly, and about the same time Dr. Josiah Trowbridge was appointed a judge of the Common Pleas. The supervisors for 1822, the rec- ords of whose election have been preserved, were Ebenezer Waldcn of Buffalo, Oziel Smith of Amherst, Otis R. Hopkins of Clarence, Ebenezer Holmes of Wales, Lemuel Wasson of Hamburg, James Green of Eden, John Twining of Boston, Mitchell Corliss of Holland, Benoni Tuttle of Sardinia, and Henry Joslin of Collins. The military record shows no lack of epauletted gentlemen. The 17th regiment of cavalrj^ was evidently a Buffalo institu- tion, of which, in 1822, S. K. Grosvenor was appointed colonel; David S. Conkey, lieutenant-colonel ; and Lucius Storrs, major. Of the 13th regiment of infantry Orange Mansfield (of Clar- ence) was made colonel; Francis Lincoln, lieutenant-colonel; and George Stow, major. The same commission appointed Earl Sawyer, lieutenant-colonel, and Asa Wells, major, of the iSist regiment of infantry. Several new post-offices were established this year. One was at Holland, with Lyman Clark as postmaster. One was in Collins, named Angola, (at Taylor's Hollow,) with Jacob Taylor, the old Quaker instructor of the Indians, as postmaster. There was already one in Evans, called I'^den, in which town it had originally been included, and in this year there was one es- tablished in l^den, with John M. Welch for postmaster, which, by some blunder, was called Evans. These names were soon afterwards transposed so as to give each town a post-office of its own name. Col. Asa Warren removed to "Hill's Corners" in 1822, and built a large hotel, though in two or three years he gave up keeping it on account of scruples against selling liquor. This MII.I^ARI) KILL?»IORE. 35 5 was about the time of the earhest development of feeling on that subject. Fillmore & Johnson had a small store there a little later, the place began to take village shape, and people began to call it " Eden Corners." The allowance of three post-offices for the single town of Hamburg seems to have been thought altogether too extrava- gant by the department. So "East Hamburg," " Smithville " and " Rarkersville " were all -discontinued, and a new office, called " Hamburg," was established at Abbott's Corners, under Harry Abbott as postmaster, as stated in the journals of the day. The old office called " Hamburg," at John Green's tavern, must have been previously discontinued. Another post-office was also established in 1822, at "West Clarence," of which Simeon Fillmore was the first postmaster. Apropos of that name, it was in the spring of 1822 that a tall young man, of stalwart form, open countenance and pleasing demeanor, came from an eastern county and entered the law office of Joseph Clary. This was Millard Fillmore, the future President of the United States. Born in Cayuga county, at the very beginning of the century, he had passed his boyhood amid the privations of a backwoods farm, and had in early youth learned the trade of a clothier. Approaching man's estate, his aspiring mind had sought more congenial employment in the study of the law. A lawyer who appreciated his abilities gave him some assistance, and the young man supported himself partly by working at his trade, and partly by teaching a country school. Meanwhile his father, Nathaniel Fillmore, had emi- grated to Aurora in this county, about the same time that his (Nathaniel's) brother Calvin moved thither from Clarence. Mil- lard, as before stated, followed in 1822, and continued his law studies in Buffalo. All of the elder Fillmores were men of powerful frame, and all had considerable local prominence, such as is often gained in country-towns by sensible though not highly educated men. Simeon was supervisor of Clarence several years. Calvin was a prominent local politician, a colonel of militia, and at one time a member of the assembly. Millard's father, Nathaniel, was less noted, but was for several years a justice of the peace, and was generally recognized as a man of unblemished integrity and 356 ALDEN AND ERIR. sound judi^ment. Of Glezen Fillmore, the son of Simeon, I have spoken at some length before. Young Millard continued his studies through the summer, and in the winter taught a school at Cold Spring. It is .said that the young school-teacher and law-student wms recognized as a man of considerable ability, and that some of his admirers predicted that he would yet fill a seat in the State legislature ! In the spring of 1823 he was admitted to practice in the county court, and immediately opened an office at Aurora. He was the first lawyer in the county, outside of Buffalo and Black Rock. Another gentleman in the southern part of the county, whom I must mention on account of his prominence and his long pro- fessional career, was Dr. Carlos Emmons, who in 1823 settled at Springville. For nearly half a century he practiced his pro- fession there, besides filling many important positions, and only within the last year has he passed away from life. Early in that year the legislature erected two new towns from Clarence — Alden and Erie. The former occupied the same ter- ritory as now, with the nominal addition of part of the reserva- tion opposite. The name of the latter was afterwards changed to Newstead, and the existence of the previous town of Erie, which was formed in 1804 and obliterated in 1808, has caused remarkable confusion among the statisticians. All the gazet- teers, civil-lists, etc., that I have seen, state that the town of Newstead was "formed as Erie, in 1804," whereas the town of Erie, which was formed in 1804, had ceased to exist for fifteen years when the town of ICrie which afterwards became Newstead was erected, and the two " Fries " were six miles apart at the nearest point. The town-records of Newstead were burned a few years ago, but those of Alden have been preserved and show that the first town-meeting was held at the house of Washburn Parker, on the 27th day of May, 1823, when Edmond Badger was elected tho first supervisor. It is said that Alden was so designated by one of its citizens after the name of his wife's mother, and was thereupon for several years denominated " Grannytown," by the irreverent youth of the period. Clarence, after the division, still included the present Lan- caster, making a town six miles wide and nearly twenty long. LANCASTER AND TONAWANDA. 357 The south part, however, had grown so that the next winter a post-office was established at the present village of Lancaster, by the name of " Cayuga Creek ; " Thomas Gross being the first postmaster. The grand canal was now fairly under way in this section. All along the banks of the Niagara, from Buffalo to Tonawanda creek, ploughs and spades were busily at work. Early in the winter the commissioners had let the contract for a dam at the mouth of that creek to Judge Wilkeson and Dr. Johnson, and throughout the summer of 1823 those energetic business men kept that locality alive with the noise of a host of laborers. Mr. Wilkeson also established a store there, the first one nearer than Williamsville. Soon afterwards, Tracy, Townsend and other Buftalonians formed a company, bought a tract of land, and laid oft" a village at that point. This was the beginning of Tonawanda, a place of which large expectations were formed, that waited long for their fulfillment, but which in the last ten years have been amply realized. The war between Buffalo and Black Rock was at its height in 1823, the champions of the former place being the Buftalo Patriot and the Buffalo Journal, and that of the latter the Black Rock Beacon, which had been started the year before. This was the time when the fortunes of Black Rock reached their climax, its citizens being still inspired by the hope of having a "cut oft," which should give them the actual terminus of the canal. It was probably nearly half as large as Buftalo. But thenceforward it stood nearly still, until it was absorbed in Buffalo and began to share its growth. Buffalo's lack of a harbor had been so fully remedied in 1823 that, on the 12th of July, one of her journals proudly boasted of twenty-nine vessels at her wharves at once. The imports in- cluded cedar posts, flax-seed, corn, oats, whisky, maple-sugar, ashes, and gmseng. No wheat nor flour that time — though wheat and flour occasionally came, in small quantities. In the spring of this year (1823) Mr. Wilkeson resigned his judicial position, and iibenezer Walden, the pioneer lawyer of the county, was appointed first judge of the Common Tleas. In the fall the ex-judge was selected to represent the county in the assembly. 358 AN UNEVENTFUL YEAR. The undestroycd records show the following supervisors elected in 1823 and '24, nearly all of them serving both years: Buftalo, Josiah Trowbridge; x\mherst, John Grove and Oziel Smith; Clarence, Simeon Fillmore; Alden, Edmond Badger; Wales, Ebenezer Holmes; Hamburg, Lemuel Wasson ; Eden, James Green and Asa Warren ; Boston, John Twining ; Holland, Mitchell Corliss; Sardinia, Morton Crosby and Horace Clark; Collins, Stephen White and Nathaniel Knight. The year 1824 was not an eventful one in Erie county. The canal was nearly finished within the county limits, and only awaited the completion of the great cut through the mountain ridge at Lockport, and some work of less importance on either side. While it was thus in progress its great advocate, DeWitt Clinton, who after being governor many years was then serving as canal commissioner, was removed from that humble but im- portant office through partisan hostility. This ungrateful act roused the intense resentment of a large portion of the people, and in the fall he received an independent nomination for gov- ernor, and was triumphantly elected. Erie county remembered her benefactor and gave him a handsome majority. At the same time Colonel Calvin Fillmore, of Aurora, was chosen to represent the county in the assembly, and Judge Wilkeson was elected to the senate. Daniel G. Garnsey, of Chautauqua county, was elected to Congress. Mr. Tracy de- clined a renomination for that position, and in the winter was nominated by the State senate for United States senator, though then but thirty-one years of age. The assembly, however, failed to concur, and on a subsequent joint ballot another aspirant was elected. Another weekly paper was established this year, by Lazelle & Francis, called the Buffalo Emporium. Not far from the time under consideration, certainly during the administration of Mr. Otto as local agent, the Holland Company adopted a system of receiving from the settlers the products of their farms, in payment for land. Agents yearly received cattle at certain advertised points, and endorsed the value thereof on the contracts. Turner states that, while the measure was highly beneficial to the settlers, the company, by reason of the expense of agencies, etc., lost largely by the new system. AN EXCITING 8KARCH. 359 CHAPTER XXXII. A YEAR OF SENSATIONS. An Exciting Search. — The Thayers. — John Love. — The Shooting Match. — The Dis- covery.— The Trial. — The Confession. — The Execution. — Reception of La- fayette.— Interview with Red Jacket. — An Amusing Episode. — Major Noah. — Ararat. — Laying the Corner-stone. — Noah's Proclamation. — The End of Ararat. — The Climax of Absurdity. — Completion of the Canal. — The Grarul Celebration. — De Witt Clinton. — The State Salute. — The Wedding of Lake and Ocean. — Political Matters. The quiet of 1824 wa.s more than compensated by the excite- ment.s of 1825. Since the close of the war no such eventful twelvemonth had passed over the county of Erie. Early in the year the public first learned of a tragedy which became celebrated throughout the country, and to which old residents of Western New York still look back as the event most deeply branded on their memories. For many reasons I would be willing to omit all mention of this wretched event, yet it was so notorious that it would obviously be out of the question for any one to pretend to write a history of Erie county, without giving some account of the episode of " The Three Thayers." In the latter part of February, 1825, there was a great excite- ment in the town of Boston, especially in the northern portion. Men and boys were out on all the hillsides and in all the valleys, peering into bushes, looking under logs, exploring every nook where a human body might be secreted. They were searching for the corpse of John Love. Love was a Scotchman by birth, who made a practice of sailing the lake in summer and going on peddling tours in winter. He was an unmarried man, and for two or three years had made his headquarters among the Thayers, near North Boston. These were an old man, Israel Thayer, and his three sons, Nelson, Israel, Jr., and Isaac. The two first were married, though the oldest was but twenty-three years of age, the young- est of the three being nineteen. They were all in very humble 360 THE TIIKKl:: THAVERS. circumstances, and the young' men have generally been reputed as of reckless and evil character. On the other hand, it has been said by some who knew them well that their general be- havior was no worse than that of many young men, and that, had it not been for their subsequent crimes, their characters would have passed without special reprobation. S. V. R. Graves, Esq., of East Hamburg, so informed me, and added that either of them would share his last sixpence with an acquaintance, in case of need. Certain it is that the two oldest both married into respectable families. Love had acquired some money, which he was in the habit of loaning. He had lent some to the Thayers. During the sum- mer of 1824 he sailed in the employ of young Bennett, now the venerable Deacon Joseph Bennett, of Evans, then the owner and captain of a small vessel on the lake. Deacon Bennett declares Love to have been a penurious, grasping man, and says he has no doubt, from circumstances within his knowledge, that he was planning to get possession of all the little property the Thayers had. In the fall of 1824, Love, after returning from the lake to Boston, and remaining with the Thayers for awhile, suddenly disappeared. Little was thought of it at first, as it was sup- posed he had gone on one of his peddling trips. Ere long, how- ever, it was noticed that the Thaj-ers, usually so poor, were well supplied with money. Perhaps the first suspicion against them was aroused at a shooting-match in Boston, on Christmas day. Shots were a six- pence apiece, and sixpences were scarce in those times. Marks- men were in the habit of economizing, especially if they found themselves missing many shots. But all the afternoon the three Thayers kept up a constant firing at the match-maker's turkeys, careless whether they hit or missed, and flinging out their six- pences with a profusion positively startling to the rural mind of that era. Soon, one or another of the young men was seen riding a fine horse which had belonged to Love, and which they said he had given them. Finally, with that fatuity which so often lures criminals to their destruction, the Thayers attempted to collect notes and accounts, which they represented that Love had left DISCOVERY, TRIAL AND CONVICTION. 36 1 witli them for that purpose. The debtors demurred. . One of them refused to pay because no power of attorney was pro- duced. In a few days a power of attorney was brought forward. Then suspicions rapidly grew rife. The Thayers were closely questioned as to Love's whereabouts, and their unsatisfactory answers increased the suspicions. At length Nelson and Israel were arrested, and, as I have said, men gathered from all the country round to search for the bod}^ of Love. The magistrates of Boston offered for its recov- ery a reward of ten dollars! But ten dollars was more then than it is now. The searchers circled far and near, exploring every suspicious nook, but without results, and toward nightfall they retunfed, wearied and unsuccessful, but still unsatisfied. One of them had his attention called to a piece of sloping ground back of the cabin of Israel Thayer, Jr. It is generally reported that this was caused by old Mr. Thayer's asking whether they had examined that locality, but there is nothing in the sworn evidence to that effect. At all events several men went to examine the spot. And there, lying on his back in a shallow grave, carelessly covered with brush, his toes peeping through the frozen ground, was the body of John Love, only twenty or thirty rods from the house of his murderer. The ar- rest of Isaac and the old man immediately followed, and all were soon in jail. They were tried at the Erie county Oyer and Terminer, on the 19th and 20th of April. Reuben H. Walworth, judge of the fourth district and afterwards chancellor of the State, pre- sided, while on the bench with him sat Ebenezer Walden, first judge of the Common Pleas, and Associate-Judges Russell, Doug- lass and Camp. District- Attorney Potter appeared for the peo- ple, assisted by Sheldon Smith and Henry B. White, both young lawyers, lately admitted. The prisoners were defended by Thos. C. Love, P2benezer Griffin and P2than B. Allen. Israel, Jr., and Isaac were tried first, and Nelson separately, afterwards. The father was not put on trial. Associate-Judge William Mills was also on the bench, at the second trial. Of the jurors, Jas. Clark of Lancaster, and Elijah Knight of Michigan, still survive, and possibly others. The evidence was too plain for serious contest, and all three were found guilty and sentenced to death. 24 362 CONFESSION AND EXECUTION. Finding their doom sealed, they made a full confession of their crime. I pass, as briefly as may be, over its tragic details. The murder had been planned for several days before the 15th of December, 1824. On that day Love had been persuaded to go to the house of Israel, Jr., whose wife had been sent away. While he was seated before the fire-place, Isaac, from the outside, fired through the window, hitting him in the head. As he did not fall from his chair, the oldest of the brothers struck him with an axe in the neck, completing the work. Isaac then went away, declaring that he had done his part, and the other two buried the body, as has been said, in a grave so shallow that the earth scarcely covered its feet. They all said their father had nothing to do with the crime, and it was not generally believed that he had, except that he might, perhaps, have been made aware of it after its commission. On the 7th of June, 1825, was seen the remarkable spectacle of three brothers led to execution for murder. It was this cir- cumstance which made the crime famous, and which drew an enormous crowd to the scene of doom. When executions were public every one attracted a throng — but three executions at once had a fascination which hardly any one could resist. Even the day before the last tragedy, many bent their way toward Buffalo, and on the morning of the execution, every road was crowded with people — men, women and children — hurrying for- ward in every kind of vehicle, on horseback and on foot. Never had there been seen such thronging numbers since that dismal day in December, 1813, when all the people fled, not to, but from, the execution which they feared at the hands of savage inv^aders. There was, however, one notable exception. As Judge Wal- den was entering the village from his farm in Hamburg, he met the veteran Red Jacket, striding alone toward his home at the Seneca village. "Why, how is this," said the judge, "why do you not go to see the execution, like the rest.-*" "Ugh," growled the old chieftain contemptuously, "fools enough there now — battle is the place to see men die ; " ami with this aphorism he haughtily pursued his way. The morning of the execution the wretched father was re- leased, and returned to his desolate home. A HUNGRY THRONG. 363 As usual the militia was called out, and besides the regiment of foot, commanded by Colonel and District-Attorney Potter, I find mention of Captains Matthews' and Vosburgh's troops of horse, and Captain Crary's artillery. A mass of people, es- timated at from twenty to thirty thousand but probably not half so large, was gathered about Niagara Square, near the west side of which the gallows was situated. Again, as twice before, Elder Glezen Fillmore was chosen to preach the customary ser- mon, and the survivors of the scene still remember the solemn impression which he made, as his mighty voice rolled out over the heads of the hushed throng. This was the last public execution at Buffalo, and the only one in Erie county after its separate organization. Like most other noted events of that era, the tragedy was celebrated in divers most unmelodious attempts at rhyme. One of them was so remarkably uncouth in style, and so disjointed in meter, that it may fairly be termed a classic among doggerels. Verses are often quoted from it by old residents, and the newspapers have several times reprinted it for the delectation of their younger readers. One somewhat curious item illustrates the eagerness of the people to visit the execution, and marks a point in the history of Alden. Thomas Farnsworth, as his son informs me, had put up a large house on the site of Alden village in 1823. He sometimes entertained travelers, but kept no regular tavern for two years. When the crowd came flocking to the execution they, in common parlance, ate him out of house and home. He furnished them everything he could, and then prepared a large supply of eatables and drinkables in expectation of their return. Again the hungry throngs cleared his larder ; he then concluded that he might as well keep a tavern in earnest, and accordingly put up a sign. It may be noted, too, as another landmark of progress, that in that year James Wood and Orsamus Warren, both deceased within the past year, opened the first store at "Wood's Hollow" in Wales. In fact it was about the first large store in that section, and drew trade from a wide range of country. Between the trial and execution of the Thayers occurred an- other event of wide-spread interest. For two or three days Cap- 364 LAFAYETTE AND RED JACKET. tain Vosburgh's cavalry and Captain Rathbun's Frontier Guard were kept under arms at Buffalo, awaiting the arrival of the steamer Superior. A large concourse of citizens also assembled daily. At length, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of June 4th, the steamer came, and from it descended an old man of medium height, venerable appearance and mild demeanor. A great crowd saluted him with enthusiastic cheers, the soldiers pre- sented arms, and under their escort the stranger passed up Main street, to Rathbun's Eagle tavern. It was Lafayette, the guest of the nation, returning from his western tour. In front of the hotel a handsome pavilion had been erected, where Judge Forward, on behalf of the people, welcomed the distinguished stranger in a brief address, to which the general made an appropriate reply. Among those who had awaited his arrival was Red Jacket, proudly displaying his Washington medal, and doubtless looking forward with his usual vanity, though with apparent stoicism, to a scene in which it was arranged that he should play a strik- ing part. As the whites naturally wanted their aboriginal lion to make a creditable appearance, a special committee kept close watch to see that the lion did not get drunk before the visitor came. After the formal reception was over, the orator was escorted on the stage by the committee. "The Douglass in his hall," says Turner, who was present, "never walked with a firmer step or a prouder bearing." He almost seemed to condescend to take notice of the gentleman from France. Their conversation was through an interpreter ; in fact Red Jacket always employed one on state occasions. In the course) of it the treaty of Fort Stanwix was mentioned. Lafayette asked his interlocutor if he knew what had become of the young chief, who at that time eloquently opposed the " burying of the tomahawk." " He stands before you," proudly and promptly replied the aged orator. Nevertheless there is a good deal of doubt as to whether Red Jacket was present at Fort Stanwix at all. If he saw a good chance to add to the dramatic interest of his inter- view with Lafayette, he would probably be quite willing to seize AN AMUSING EPISODE. 365 it, without regard to the trifling matter of his absence from the council. In further conversation, the sachem remarked that time liad not visited the general so hardly as himself "Time has left you a fresh countenance, and hair to cover your head ; while as for me — see!" and taking off the handkerchief which had covered his head, he disclosed that he was nearly bald. A laugh went round among the spectators, for most of them knew that Lafayette himself wore a wig. On the chief- tain's being informed of this fact, he drily remarked that he supposed he, too, might supply himself with a new head of hair, with the aid of his scalping-knife. That evening the village was illuminated, and the next morn- ing the general set out for the Falls, being escorted as far as Black Rock by the military. The occurrences which I shall next describe form altogether the most amusing episode in the history of the county of Erie. Seldom, indeed, have there happened anywhere events which properly entered into history, and yet which were of so intensely farcical a character. This account of them is to a great extent condensed from an essay read by Hon. Lewis F. Allen before the Buffiilo Historical Society, though the journals of the time have also been consulted. From the time of its "conquest," and the expatriation of its would-be sovereigns, in 18 19, Grand Island had remained un- tenanted by man, save perchance by an occasional squatter, who had stolen back and occupied his old ground so quietly that no one had cared to disturb him. Deer Avere abundant. Bears and wolves were occasionally seen, and fish could be caught in unlimited quantities. White hunters occasionally visited the island, and the Indians of the neighboring reservations held an- nual carnivals of weeks at a time, always returning with canoes filled with venison. After several years of this Arcadian existence, the State caused the island to be surveyed into farm lots in 1824 and '25, and in the latter year they were offered for sale. While the sur- vey was going on. Major Mordecai Manuel Noah, a prominent Israelite of the city of New York, formed a plan to purchase the island, (a part of it at first,) found a city, and gather there the ^66 THE "JUDGE OF ISRAEL." Hebrews of all nations, making it an asylum for that oppressed people. Despite the visionary nature of his scheme, Major Noah was a shrewd man of the world in ordinary affairs — a native of the United States, a counselor at law, a successful politician, and the editor of the principal organ of the Tammany, or " Bucktail," party in the metropolis. By the favor of that party he had been made consul at Tunis and high sheriff of the county of New York. He does not, however, seem to have had much influence with his own people, though always a loyal and devoted son of Abra- ham. The Hebrews, even of his own acquaintance, distrusted his judgment and rejected his proposals. Nevertheless he persisted in his plan. Poor in means himself, notwithstanding his political influence, he persuaded his Gentile friend, Samuel Leggett, to purchase about a thousand acres at the head of Grand Island, and fifteen hundred on the eastern side, opposite Tonawanda. Mr. L. agreed to pay nearly seven dollars an acre, but only one-eighth was paid down. Other par- ties, including Peter Smith, father of the late Gerrit Smith, stimulated by Noah's talk of building a city, purchased nearly all the rest' of the island at a little less than four dollars per acre. Noah now assumed the title of "Judge of Israel," without the slightest sanction from any assemblage of his compatriots, how- ever small, or from any of the actual dignitaries of the Jewish church. He then provided himself with robes of office, and, at- tended only by a solitary secretary, set forth to found his city. For it he had selected the appellation of "Ararat," ancl the wits of the day declared it very natural that, in searching for a name, NoaJi should light on Ararat. He arrived in Buffalo near the middle of September, 1825. Some of the necessary arrangements had been made in advance. A flag-staff had been erected on the island to bear the Grand Standard of Israel, and a flat stone, resembling in appearance a large, old-fashioned gravestone, had been inscribed by a Buf- falo mechanic with a suitable device, furnished by Major Noah. Though called a "corner-stone," it does not ajjpear to have been intended for any particular building, but rather as a memento of the founding of the city. A GRAND PROCESSION. 367 And here comes the most amusing and surprising part of all this strange performance. Finding, according to his own state- ment, that enough boats could not be procured to convey to the island all who wished to see the ceremony, Major Noah deter- mined to lay the foundation-stone of the city of Ararat in the village of Buffalo, twelve miles distant, and on the other side of the east branch of the Niagara river. I suspect, however, that this astonishing absurdity was due rather to the facilities which the village afforded for a good show, as compared with the wilds of Grand Island ; for vanity was certainly one of the principal characteristics of the self-styled judge. The people of Buffalo were full of excitement over the almost- completed canal, and their own expected greatness, and gladly availed themselves of any opportunity to make a display. More- over, as if to add to the oddity of the whole aff^iir, it was de- termined to lay the foundation of this Jewish city of refuge within the walls of the Episcopal church of St. Paul's. The masons, too, lent their aid, some of the military companies agreed to turn out, and the officers of the corporation consented to appear in a body. The 15th of September was fixed as the day for the cere- mony. At sunrise salutes were fired in front of the court-house and on the Terrace. At eleven o'clock a procession formed in front of the masonic lodge-room, and moved toward the church. Colonel Heman B. Potter acted as grand marshal. There was a band of music, and militia companies, and citi- zens, and various officers both civil and military. Then came the masons, in full regalia, with the emblematic corn, wine and oil. Then, almost at the last, followed only by a few royal arch masons and knights templar, came the principal figure of the procession. In an article written by Major Noah himself, for an extra edition of the Buffalo Patriot, that figure is described as " The Judge of Israel, in black, wearing the judicial robes of crimson silk, trimmed with ermine, and a richly embossed golden medal suspended from the neck." At the church the troops opened each way, and the proces- sion entered, while the band played the grand march from Judas Maccabees. The " corner stone" lay on the communion table ! The masonic corn, wine and oil lay in silver cups on the stone. 368 A WONDERFUL PROCLAMATION. The latter bore tlic following inscription, the first line being in Hebrew : Mcar, O Israel, the Lord is our God — the Lord is one. ARARAT, A City of Refuge for the Jews. Founded by MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH, In the month of Tizri 5586 — Sept. 1825, in Uie 50th year of American Independence. The Episcopal morning service was read by the Rev. Addison Searle, the missionary rector of St. Paul's, and then a hymn was sung to the tunc of " Old Hundred." Then came various prayers, readings from the Bible, a psalm in Hebrew, and finally the benediction. The ordinary ceremony of laying a corner- stone with trowel and mortar was necessarily omitted. IVLajor Noah then delivered a speech, going through with the details of his plan, after which the procession returned to the lodge-room, the artillery fired a salute of twenty-four guns, the band played patriotic airs, and the crowd dispersed to their homes. The same number of the Buffalo Patriot which gave a descrip- tion of the scene contained also a " proclamation to the Jews," quite as amusing as the rest of the proceedings. After declar- ing that God had manifested the approach of the day when the Jews should be reunited, and mentioning the spirit of liberality which encouraged them, the document continued : "Therefore I, Mordecai Manuel Noah, citizen of the United States of America, late consul of said States for the City and Kingdom of Tunis, High Sheriff of New York, Counselor at law, and by the grace of God Governor and Judge of Lsrael, have issued this, my proclamation, announcing to the Jews throughout the world that an asylum is prepared, and hereby offered to them, where they can enjoy that peace, comfort and happiness which have been denied them through the intoler- ance and misgovernment of former ages." The proclamation next proceeded to describe the agricultural and commercial advantages of Grand Island, and of the State of New York, in the most glowing terms. Then the judge continued : " In his [the Lord's] name do I revive, renew and establish the government of the Jewish nation, under the auspices and protection of the constitution and laws of the United States of AUDACIOUS ORDERS. 369 America, confirmini^ and perpetuatiiif^ all our rights and privi- leges, our name, our rank and our power among the nations of the earth, as they existed and were recognized under the gov- ernment of the Judges." How their rank and power among the nations, as they were in the time of the Judges, were to be reconciled with the author- ity of the United States over Grand Island, the enthusiastic ruler did not deign to explain. With sublime audacity he pro- ceeded to issue a series of commands to all the Israelites of the world, not one of whom, except perhaps his secretary, had ever recognized his authority. He commanded that a census of the Hebrews should be taken throughout the world. He prohibited marriage, or giving " Keduchim," unless both parties were of suitable age, and able to read and WTite the language of the country they inhabited. He commanded that a strict neutrality should be observed in the pending war between the Greeks and Turks. He declared that the American Indians were in all probability descended from the lost tribes of Israel, and that measures must be adopted to cultivate their minds and reunite them to the chosen people. Most audacious of all, he levied a capitation tax of " three shekels," or one Spanish dollar, per annum, on every Jew throughout the world, to defray the expenses of reorganizing the government and assisting emigrants. Finally he designated ten of the most eminent Israelites of Europe as commissioners to carry out his instructions. The proclamation was signed " By the Judge. A. B. Siexas, Secretary/;'^ tern!' A day or two later the redoubtable counselor, editor, major, sheriff and judge returned to New York, without having ever visited Grand Island, and that was the end of Ararat. Not an Israelite went to Grand Island, not a " shekel " was paid into the treasury, not a rabbi acknowledged the authority of the Su- preme Judge. All unanimously rejected the enticing scheme, and Noah himself, apparently becoming satisfied of its hope- lessness, utterly abandoned it immediately after his return to the metropolis. In his description of the affair he called the services " impres- 370 NOAII SURVIVKS. sive and unique." Unique they certainly were. I doubt if a "queerer" performance has ever happened outside the Hmits of opera bouffe. The foundation-stone of a Jewish city is laid with masonic ceremonies, on the communion table of a Christian church, twelve miles and across a river from the site of the pro- po.sed metropolis, by a man claiming to be the .supreme ruler of Israel without the support of a single Israelite, while an Epis- copal clergyman reads the service and the choir sing Old Hun- dred. Moreover, the ceremonies are under the escort of a detachment of New York militia, their colonel acting as grand marshal, he being at the same time district-attorney of Erie county, aiding the high sheriff of New York to set up the an- cient government of the Hebrew judges within the jurisdiction of the United States of America. A score of exclamation points would be inadequate to do justice to the situation. Noah did not even take care to destroy or conceal the stone memento of his folly. For several years it lay in the rear of St. Paul's church, and afterwards went through some curious mi- grations which will perhaps be narrated by-and-by. Not the least singular part of the whole matter is that after this astoni.shing fiasco Noah was still able to maintain his prestige as an editor and politician. If he was the cause of wit in others, he was not without wit of his own, and in his newspaper he met the ridicule flung upon him, with a readiness and good humor that in time disarmed his adv^ersaries. Though he could not make himself a judge in Israel, he could in New York, being appointed to preside in one of the courts of that city some years after his Grand Island escapade. He is .said to have performed his judicial duties with marked ability and integrity. There was still another grand sensation for the year 1825. The progress of the Erie canal had been anxiously watched throughout the final summer of its construction. In September there remained only the la.st touches at the "Mountain Ridge," where the village of Lockport was rapidly growing in the forest- On the 29th of that month William C. Bouck, the commissioner in charge of the western section, gave notice that the canal would be ready for the passage of boats, along its entire length, on the 26th of October. GRAND CANAL CELKBRATION. 3/1 Immediately a grand celebration was resolved on, and com- mittees were appointed all along the line to carry it out. P^-om Albany to Buffalo everybody was in a state of excitement over the canal and the celebration, and even New York took an ac- tive part. Nowhere was the feeling stronger than at Buffalo, which at length saw its hopes of greatness approaching realiza- tion. Though the adoption of that place as the terminus of the canal was perhaps the real turning-point in her destiny, yet her triumph was still liable to be checked by hostile legislation. The completion of the canal set the seal of permanent success on her endeavors, and all her people were ready for a jubilee. The whole county of Erie, too, was deeply interested in the event about to be celebrated, for it not only provided the people with an unfailing outlet for their surplus produce, but it brought to their doors the market which a great city always affords. As the designated hour drew near, the force at the Mountain Ridge was largely increased, and even then there was no time to spare. It was not till the evening of the 24th of October that the guard-gates were opened, and the filling of the Lake Erie level commenced, and not till the evening of the 25th that the entire canal was provided with water, and ready for naviga- tion. On that evening Governor Clinton and the New York committee arrived at Buffalo, finding everything in perfect readiness for the ovation. On the 26th the morn was ushered in by the thunders of ar- tillery, and everybody was soon astir. At an early hour mar- shals were riding to and fro, soldiers were hurrying to their rendezvous, banners were waving from every housetop, mechan- ics of every description were assembling at the appointed local- ities, and citizens of every station were preparing to join in the joyful duties of the day. At 9 o'clock the procession formed at the park and moved down Main street, headed by a band of music and Captain Rathbun's rifle company. Then came a body of canal diggers with shovels, axe-men with axes, stone- cutters, masons, ship-carpenters, and sailors of the lake with their officers. All the mechanics of the village followed, (I doubt if one was absent) ; the representatives of each trade marching together. Then came the citizens in general, then a body of military officers in uniform, members of the village 1^2 DE WITT CLINTON. corporation, strangers of distinction, canal engineers and com- missioners, followed by the orator of the day, Sheldon Smith. Last of all, rode one who has been universally recognized as the master-mind of the work then celebrated — whose genius discerned the wisdom of the much-ridiculed project of the " Grand Canal," whose talents gave it effective advocacy, whose resolute will forced it to completion — De Witt Clinton, governor of the State of New York. A square-built, broad-shouldered man of fifty-six, his stern countenance may have hidden his feelings from the crowd, but he must have been more or less than human had not his heart beat quicker with triumph as he saw his hopes and his labors at last realized. Henceforth his position was secure. Politicians might outwit him, enemies might assail him, disease might torture him, death might soon claim him for its own, but the " F'ather of the Erie Canal " had achieved a place in the history of his State and nation, of which neither politicians, nor enemies, nor disease, nor death itself could rob him. The procession, under the direction of Major John G. Camp, grand marshal of the day, moved down Main street, and thence to the canal basin, where the boat Seneca Chief, which was to make the first voyage through to the Hudson, was awaiting it. The governor and other distinguished passengers went on board. Jesse Hawley, the earliest projector of the canal in its entirety, made a short address of congratulation on the part of a committee from Rochester. Judge Forward responded on behalf of the Buffalo committee. Then, at precisely lO o'clock, the boat moved off, and, as it did so, a 32-pound cannon on the bank was fired. Ere its echoes died away, it was responded to by another gun far down the canal ; and those who listened closely for a moment more might, perchance, have heard still another faint report, from a yet greater distance. The grand State-salute was being fired. All along the canal, from Buffalo to Albany, heavy pieces of artil- lery had been stationed within hearing distance of each other, and the shot fired at Buffalo was repeated by gun after gun, as fast as sound could travel. After the boat had started, the procession returned to the court-house, where, after prayer and singing, Mr. Smith delivered WEDDING OF LAKE AND OCEAN. 373 cin oration on the great event, in which, after depicting the benefits which the canal, though incomplete, had already con- ferred, he indulged in a glowing description of the blessings which it would bestow in the future, not only on the people of the Empire State, but on the many millions of the mighty West ; anticipations which have been more than made good by the beneficent reality. The services at the court-house were closed by the singing of an "ode written for the occasion," which was not, as is often the case with such productions, entirely destitute of poetic fire. The procession then re-formed and marched through several streets. Afterwards, a large number of the citizens partook of a dinner at " Rathbun's Eagle," and another body at " Landon's Mansion House." A few minutes before sitting down, a faint report was heard to the northward. " Ah ! the return shot," cried the people, and at the same in- stant the big 32-pounder at the basin thundered forth the last shot in the State-salute. The announcement of the starting of the Seneca Chief had occupied but three hours and twenty min- utes in traveling to Albany and back by this unique telegraph. The dinners were duly discussed, with numerous toasts appro- priate to the occasion, and the festivities of the day were con- cluded by a grand ball at Rathbun's, at which, we are told, " most of the fashion and beauty of the village attended." The Buffalo committee, headed by Judge Wilkeson, went through to New York, and obtained a keg of the water of the Atlantic, which they brought back to Buffalo. On their arrival there was a final ceremony, which reminds one of the wedding of the Adriatic by the doge of Venice. The sentiment was quite as poetic, though it must be confessed that the accessories were far less so. The committee, with other citizens, went out upon the lake in a vessel. Then, with appropriate formalities, the water of the Atlantic was poured upon the bosom of Erie. This was the last ceremonial which celebrated the grand wedding of Lake and Ocean. It was in 1825, or very near it, that the trustees of Buffalo changed the old names of many of the streets to others more 374 CHANGING NAMES. easil)' manag^eablc. Vollcnhoven avenue became Erie street, Cazenove avenue Court street, Schimmelpenninck avenue Niag- ara street, and Busti avenue Genesee street. Onondaga street was changed into Washington, and Tuscarora into Franklin, and terrible Missisauga was subdued to simple Morgan. Even the modest names of Oneida and Cayuga were not spared, but were changed into EUicott and Pearl. Finally, Crow street, which commemorated the name of the pioneer landlord, was rechrist- ened Exchange, and then the reformers stayed their hands. Another change of name was made, about this time, on the banks of the Cattaraugus. The hamlet called Aldrich's Mills became the village of Lodi. A year or two previous Mr. Ralph Plumb had purchased the solitary store there, and had begun the prominent business career which he so long and successfully pursued. Probably the name of Lodi was suggested by Na- poleon's " Bridge of Lodi," on account of the long bridge over the Cattaraugus, which connected the two parts of the village. But there was another Lodi in the State, their letters went wrong, and for a long time they never could get a post-office name to suit them. At the election in November, John G. Camp was chosen sheriff, and Jacob A. Barker was reelected county clerk. Reu- ben B. Heacock was selected to represent the county in the as- sembly, and Judge Wilkeson in the State senate. The supervi- sors for that year, of which there happens to be a complete list extant, were as follows: Amherst, Job Bestow; Alden, Moses Case; Aurora, John C. Fuller; Buffalo, Josiah Trowbridge; Boston, John C. Twining; Collins, Nathaniel Knight; Concord, Thomas M. Barrett; Clarence, Simeon Fillmore; Evans, Na- thaniel Gray; Eden, James Green; Erie (Newstead), John Boyer; Hamburg, Thomas T. White, and after his death Joseph Foster; Holland, Asa Crook; Sardinia, Bela H. Colegrove; Wales, Ebenezer Holmes. The State census was taken in June of this year, and showed the population of Erie county to be twenty-four thousand three hundred and sixteen. Jiuffalo numbered two thousand four hundred and twelve inhabitants — onl}- one tenth of the whole population of the county. JUST FIFTY YEARS AGO. 375 CHAPTER XXXIII. 1826 TO 1830. The Semi-Centennial. — Dr. Lord. — Purchase of Indian Land. — Abduction of Mor- gan.— Excitement. — Anti-Masonry in Politics. — The Holland Company. — A Bogus Murderer. — Shooting Niagara. — A Menagerie in Troul)le. — Depo- sition of Red Jacket. — Restoration. — An Erie County Cabinet-Officer. — Mili- tary.— Early Germans. — Political Matters. — Catholics. — A Classical School. Millard Fillmore. — Post-offices in 1830. — Condition of the County. — Death of Red Jacket. — Fate of his Remains. The construction of the canal was not, at first, rewarded by the immense business which its sanguine supporters expected. But httle grain, as yet, found its way down the lake, and for several years loads were light. A large part of the business of the canal was the carrying of passengers in packet boats, a busi- ness which became quite extensive, yet did not prevent an im- mense amount of travel by stage-coach. Few incidents of special local interest occurred during the forepart of 1826. As this is a "Centennial History," however, it would be inconsistent not to mention that in 1826 occurred the Jubilee, or Semi-Centennial, of American Independence, celebrated with great rejoicing throughout the country, and made doubly memorable by the most remarkable coincidence in his- tory— the death of Jefferson, the author of the declaration, and of Adams, its chief supporter, just fifty years from the day of its being signed. At the celebration in Buff'alo the principal part was borne by a young man admitted the year before to the Erie county bar^ of which he is now the earliest surviving member, though he has long given all his efforts to another field. I refer to John C. Lord, now the Rev. Dr. Lord, the orator of the day on that occasion. The supervisors for the year, so far as known, were Job Bes- tow of Amherst^ Moses Case of Alden, Josiah Trowbridge of Buffalo, Truman Cary of Boston, O. R. Hopkins of Clarence, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, Asa Warren of Eden, Joseph 1^6 PURCHASE OF MILE-STRIPS, ETC. Foster of Hamburg, Asa Crook of Holland, Horace Clark of Sardinia, and Ebenezer Holmes of Wales. During this year the efforts of the preemption-owners to pur- chase Indian lands were at length rewarded with partial success. A council was held the last of August, 1826, and, notwithstand- ing the remonstrances of Red Jacket and his supporters, a treaty was made by which the Indians ceded to the Ogden Company 11,^17 acres of the Buffalo reservation, 33,409 of the Tonawanda reservation, and 5,120 of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides some 1,500 acres in the Genesee valley. All of the Tonawanda reservation in Erie county was thus ceded, except a strip about a mile and a half wide anci two miles and a half long, in the northeast corner of the town of Erie, or Newstead. The thriving village of Akron is on the land then purchased, near its southwest corner. From the Buffalo Creek reservation a strip a mile and a half wide was sold off on the south side, running from a point in the present town of Cheektowaga, a mile and a half east of Cayuga creek to the cast end of the reservation. Also a strip about three miles wide from the east end, (including all east of the "two-rod road" in Marilla), and finally a tract a mile wide, commonly called the "mile-strip," extending along the whole south side of the reservation. Of the Cattaraugus reservation, besides a mile square in Chautauqua county there was ceded in Erie county a strip a mile wide along the north side of the reservation, for six miles from the northeast corner, also called in that section the "mile- strip," and a tract a mile sc^uare, known as the "mile-block," south of the east end of that strip. Boih are in the present town of Brant, the north edge of that " mile-strip " being about half a mile south of Brant Center. Red Jacket's influence was evidently waning, but he still clung to the semblance of his former greatness. After the treaty was agreed to by the greater part of the chiefs, the agent of the Ogden Company told the veteran orator that as he had opposed its adoption he need not sign it. Ikit no ; the name of Sagoyewatha had been affixed to every treaty made by his people for nearly forty years, and must not now be omitted. His opposition to Christianity and civilization was yearly morgan's abduction. uj growing more bitter, and the breach between his pagan adherents and that large part of the Indians who favored progressive doc- trines was all the while becoming wider. Although his vanity prompted him to have his name in its usual prominent posi- tion, yet he afterwards tried to have the treaty set aside as fraud- ulent. On examination, however, the negotiations appeared to have been conducted with entire fairness. As soon as practicable, the land thus purchased was divided among the several individuals who were collectively called the Ogden Company, and most of it was put in market. That year, too, the State offered for sale its land adjoining Buffalo, on the State reservation, which came as far east as Mor- gan street. It was appraised at twenty-five dollars an acre! The price, however, advanced very rapidly after the sale. Mr. James Miller relates that he bought twelve acres of the first purchasers for nine hundred and fifty dollars, kept it a year and sold it for six thousand. It was in September of this year that the celebrated William Morgan, of Batavia, when on the eve of publishing his exposure of the secrets of masonry, was abducted from Canandaigua, where he had been confined in jail on trivial charges, and taken in a close carriage in the direction of Niagara river. The ab- duction created much excitement throughout Western New York, but does not appear in any way to have affected the election that fall. In this congressional district a very bitter contest, chiefly on personal grounds, took place between Garnsey, the sitting mem- ber, and Albert H. Tracy, the ex-member, the former being elected by a small majority. Mr. Tracy had, a few months be- fore, been appointed judge of the eighth circuit by Governor Clinton, but had declined the office. Wm. B. Rochester, who had previously held it, had resigned in order to come to Buffalo and accept the presidency of a branch of the United States Bank, then established there. By the census of 1825, Erie county had become entitled to two members of the assembly ; David Burt of Buffalo, and Oziel Smith of Williamsville, were the first elected under the new rule. As time passed, and Morgan could not be found, the people 25 3/8 ANTI-MASUNIC FEELING. became still more excited. Meetings were held, and commitees of investigation appointed, and bitter language toward all ma- .sons began to be used throughout Western New York. At length it was discovered that the unfortunate man had been taken from Canandaigua to Fort Niagara, thence across the river to Canada, and thence back to the fort, in the magazine of which he was kept until about the 29th of September, when all traces of him disappeared forever. Plentiful inferences have been drawn, but his precise fate is still unknown. Some of his first abductors were discovered and indicted, but they pleaded guilty of the abduction in January, 1827, leaving the main ques- tion undecided. The feeling grew stronger and spread wider, and nowhere was it stronger than in Erie county, except per- haps in Genesee. Many masons abandoned the connection. As the town elections approached in the spring of 1827, the prevalent excitement began to show itself in politics. In many towns, meetings were held at which resolutions were adopted that no adhering mason should be supported for any office. The following supervisors were chosen at that time : T. S. Hopkins of Amherst, Moses Case of Alden, Thomas Thurston of Aurora, Josiah Trowbridge of Buffalo, Epaphras Steele ol l^oston, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, Otis R. Hopkins of Clar- ence, Levi Bunting of Eden, William Van Duzer of Evans, Asa Crook of Holland, Joseph Foster of Hamburg, Horace Clark of Sardinia, and Niles Cole of Wales. During the year many masonic lodges in Western New York gave up their charters, and distrust of the institution extended to other parts of the country. Parties were in a chaotic state, nearly all men claiming to be Democrats. The most definite division was into supporters of the Adams-Clay administration, on the one hand, and of Jackson's aspirations to the succession on the other. Neither of these parties would consent to the ex- clusion of masons from office, so the ardent anti-masons advo- cated the policy of separate nominations. Some of the counties were carried by an anti-masonic ticket in the fall of 1827. In Erie, however, that question was complicated with that of opposition to the Holland Land Company. Notwithstanding the reception of produce by the company, there was still a large indebtedness, with poor prospects of payment. When, added to A BOGUS MURDERER. 379 this, came rumors that the company was about to raise the price of land on which the time of payment had passed, there was a general desire for legislative relief. Doubts were started as to the title of the company, and the proposition that in some way its property should be subjected to very heavy taxation was re- ceived with favor. David E. Evans had succeeded Mr. Otto as agent, and during his administration the contracts were some- what.modified in favor of the settlers. At this time the veteran soldier and statesman, Peter B. Por- ter, again came to the surface of political affairs. He was almost unanimously elected to the assembly, representing a mingled feeling of opposition to masonry and to the Holland Company. David Burt was reelected by a large majority. In the fall, the masons charged with the murder of Morgan were brought to trial in Niagara county, the trials resulting in disagreement of the juries. While the excitement was running high an incident occurred, curiously illustrative of the proclivity of minds, at once weak, vain and vicious, to seek an evil notori- ety at every hazard. One R. H. Hill, a resident or sojourner in this county, confessed with great circumstantiality that he had been a party to the murder of Morgan. He declared that with his own hand he had cut the victim's throat, and then helped to throw him overboard from a boat, and that in doing so one of the party of murderers became entangled in some ropes, fell overboard and was drowned. He added that remorse alone had caused this confession. He was put in jail, but when the grand jury examined the matter they came to the unanimous opinion that Hill knew nothing of Morgan or his fate. The would-be culprit was accordingly discharged, a proceeding which he took in high dudgeon. Not long after, he again got himself arrested, but was again discharged, being thus finally compelled to aban- don all his hopes of fame. In the reports of the affair there is no suggestion of insanity — but insanity was not as fashionable then as now. Stimulated by the prevalent feeling, an anti-masonic newspaper, called the Western Advertiser, was started in Bufialo, but it only lasted about three months. A separate organ was not necessary, as the principles of the anti-masons were vigorously supported by the Buffalo Patriot, while the Journal defended 380 BLACK ROCK, TONAWANUA, ETC. masonry. It defended it very moderately, however, for the feel- ing in opposition was too strong to be rudely dealt with. The Black Rock Gazette was moved to Buffalo in 1827, by its proprietor. Smith H. Salisbury, and published for a year as the Bufitalo and Black Rock Gazette. The Black Rock Advo- cate, which had maintained a precarious existence for a year, gave up the ghost in 1827. It was evident that the tide of pro- gress was rapidly drifting away from Black Rock. Tonawanda village had at this time advanced so that it had a bridge, a few houses and two small stores ; Mr. Driggs, before referred to, who located there permanently in 1827, opened the third. The Methodists then had an organization, but there was no church-building. In fact church-buildings were extremely rare anywhere in the county. I cannot learn of one, out of Buffalo, in the beginning of 1827, except the PViends' meeting-house at East Hamburg. In that year the Baptist and Presbyterian churches in Aurora combined, and built a good-sized frame church. The Methodists there erected one about the same time, and thenceforth white spires began to arise in all parts of the county. At this time, too, the village of Lodi, formerly vVldrich's Mills, had progressed so that it was thought possible to support a paper there, and the Lodi Pioneer was accordingly established. It had but a brief existence. There were already several steamers on the lake, and a large fleet of sail vessels. Two or three small steamers had also been built to run on the Niagara. A curious exhibition was seen on that river in September, 1827. The schooner Michigan, which was found to be too large to enter the lake harbors, and had be- sides become partially unseaworthy, was purchased by several hotel-owners and others, and public notice given that on a cer- tain day it would be sent over the P'alls. The novel exhibition drew immensely. Strangers came for days beforehand, and at the time appointed the number of people on Goat Island and the neighboring shores was estimated all the way from ten to thirty thousand. P'ive steamers, all there were on both lake and river except the Superior, went down from Buffalo loaded with pas- sengers, besides thousands who took land-conveyance. The Michigan was towed by one of the steamers to Yale's SHOOTING NIAGARA. 38 1 landing, three miles above the Falls, on the Canadian side. In the afternoon it was taken in charge by Captain Rough, the old- est captain on the lake, who with a yawl and five oarsmen un- dertook to pilot the doomed vessel as near the rapids as was possible. The Michigan had been provided with a crew, for that voyage only, consisting of a buffalo, three bears, two foxes, a raccoon, a dog, a cat and four geese. It had also been officered with effigies of General Jackson and other prominent men of the day. Captain Rough took the schooner to a point within a quarter of a mile of the first rapids, and but little over half a mile from the Horse-shoe Fall. Then it was cut adrift, and the oars- men had to pull for their lives, but succeeded in insuring their safety. Both shores were lined with immense crowds, eagerly watching this curious proceeding. With the American ensign flying from her bowsprit, and the British jack at her stern, the Michigan went straight down the center of the stream, keeping the course the best pilot would have pursued, and was soon dashing over the first rapids. Then there was trouble among the amateur crew. One of the bears was seen climbing a mast. The foxes, the coon, the dog and the cat were scampering up and down, apparently snuffing mis- chief in the air, but not knowing how to avoid it. Two of the bears plunged into the seething rapids and swam to the Cana- dian shore. The poor buffalo was inclosed in a pen, and could do nothing but meet his fate in dignified silence. Passing the first rapids uninjured, the schooner shipped a sea, but came up and entered the second, still "head on." There its masts both went by the board. Then it swung around, en- tered the third rapid stern foremost, and the next instant plunged over the Horse-shoe Fall. Of course it was shivered into ten thousand pieces, many of the largest timbers being broken into atoms. Two of the geese survived the tremendous plunge and swam ashore, being the only animals, except fish, ever known to have descended alive over that fearful precipice. Their covi- pagiions de voyage all disappeared ; even the buffalo was never heard of more. Of the effigies. Gen. Jackson's alone passed un- injured over the cataract, and was seen with head, arms and legs complete, riding triumphantly around one of the eddies — which 382 DEPOSITION OF RED JACKET. was doubtless considered by the friends of the real general as an omen of success at the next Presidential election. About the same time that this singular pageant was attracting a multitude of spectators, the old orator of the Scnecas was be- ing metaphorically sent over the Falls, as an unseaworthy hulk, by his countrymen. The school at the Seneca village was then in a forward condition, and many of the most prominent Indians began to profess their belief in Christianity. Red Jacket's oppo- sition became more bitter than ever, while his personal habits were those of a perfect sot. His wife had lately joined the Christians, whereupon the angry old pagan abandoned her, and lived for several months with an- other woman on the Tonawanda reservation. At the end of that time, however, he returned to his wife, and afterwards man- ifested no opposition to her attending church. Twenty-five of the chiefs determined to depose him from his sachemship. They accordingly had a written deposition drawn up, which they all signed. The list was headed by "Gayanquia- ton," or Young King, followed by the veteran Captain Pollard, White Seneca, Seneca White, Captain Strong and the rest. This singular document was directly addressed to him, saying, " You, Sagoyowatha," have committed such and such offenses ; accusing him of sending false stories to the President, of oppos- ing improvement, of discouraging children from attending school, of leaving his wife, of betraying the United States, in the war of 18 1 2, of appropriating annuity goods to his own use, and of hid- ing a deer he had killed, while his people were star\'ing. His accusers closed by renouncing him as chief, and forbidding him to act as such. These charges extended over a long time, and as to many of them there are no means of ascertaining their correctness. Those relating to his opposition to " improvement," etc., were doubtless true, but were hardly proper .subjects of impeachment. As to the accusation of betraying the United States in the war, it was generally repudiated by American officers, who doubted Red Jacket's courage, but not his fidelity. He sought, indeed, to keep his people out of the fight entirely, but his right to do this can hardly be questioned. It will be observed that his ac- cusers say nothing about the gross drunkenness which really AN ERIE COUNTY CABINET-OFFICER. 383 unfitted him for performing any official duties which may have attached to his rank. Probably a good many of them thought it not best, on their own account, to meddle with that subject. Chiefs were so numerous among the Indians that twenty-five was a minority of those who could claim that dignity ; and the action of that number could not be considered the voice of the nation. Red Jacket, however, was deeply cut by it. He made a visit to Washington in 1827 or '28, and the commissioner of Indian affairs advised him to return and offer his opponents to bury the hatchet. He came back and called a council. Much indignation was unquestionably felt among the Indians that their greatest man should have been treated with such indignity. He exerted his waning powers to the utmost, and made a most eloquent speech. The council agreed to restore him to his rank, and it is reported that it was done by a unanimous vote, his op- ponents being awed into silence by the popular feeling. But this was the last effort of that brilliant niind. He sank rapidly into comparative imbecility and utter sottishness. At the spring elections, in 1828, Timothy S. Hopkins was chosen supervisor from Amherst, Moses Case from Alden, Reu- ben B. Heacock from Buffalo, Epaphras Steele from Boston, Nathaniel Knight from Collins, Joshua Agard from Concord, Otis R. Hopkins from Clarence, Levi Bunting from Eden, Jo- seph Foster from Hamburg, Asa Crook from Holland, Horace Clark from Sardinia, Niles Cole from Wales, and Silas Lewis from Colden ; the latter being the first from that town. Judge Walden retired from the bench, and Thomas C. Love was appointed first judge of the Common Pleas. His associates were Charles Townsend, Philander Bennett, Samuel Russell and William Mills. A little later, a vacancy having occurred in the office of Sec- retary of War, President Adams selected Gen. Peter B. Porter for that position. He was the first cabinet gfficer from Western New York. Gen. Porter discharged with credit the duties of his office during the remainder of Mr. Adams' term, and then re- tired permanently from public life. Still later he removed to Niagara Falls, where he died in 1844. His only son was the late Col. Peter A. Porter, (a native of Erie county, though long a resident of Niagara,) who inherited the valor of the pioneer 384 MILITARY AND POLITICAL. volunteer, and fell at the head of his rei,nnient in the war for the Union. H. B. Potter still remained district-attorney. He had also become general of the 47th brigade of infantry, New York mi- litia, and a roster on file in the Historical Society gives the names of his field and staff officers. I do not know the exact year it was made out, but it was not fiir from 1828. It ran as follows : Brigadier-general, Heman B. Potter. Colonels, Jonathan Colby of Holland, David Burt of Buffalo, Harry B. Ransom of Clarence, and Uriel Torrey of Boston. Lieutenant-colonels, Na- than M. Mann of Wales, L}man Rathbun of Buffalo, Alanson Fox o^ Clarence, and Perry G. Jenks of Boston. Majors, Edward H. Nye of Aurora, Alanson Palmer of Buffalo, Ansel Badger of Alden, and Whitman Stone of Eden. The brigade staff was composed as follows : Hospital surgeon, John E. Marshall ; judge advocate. Philander Bennett ; brigade-quartermaster, James W. Higgins ; aide-de-camp, George Hodge ; brigade major and in- spector, Millard Fillmore. After this time, although generals and colonels continued to abound, yet few notices of their appoint- ment were published, and consequently I shall not, as a rule, be able to give them a place in this history. Although the feeling against masonry was very strong in this .section, and constantly growing more so, yet the lodges at Buf- falo and Black Rock still continued to meet, and in 1828 cele- brated in the usual manner the ancient festival of St. John. As the fall elections approached, the combat grew more intense. Charges of murder and of abetting murder were freely used on the one hand, and were met by accusations that the leading anti-masons were merely stirring up strife for the purpose of obtaining office. This was also the autumn of the first election of Jackson, and the contest was exceedingly bitter, throughout the country, between his supporters (who by this time were generally recog- nized as the actual Democratic party) and those of the Adams- Clay administration. In Western New York the lines were pretty closely drawn between the Jackson Democrats on the one hand and the anti-masons on the other, the latter having a large majority. In the 30th district, Ebenezer F. Norton, of Buffalo, was EARLY GERMAN EMIGRATION. 385 elected to Congress over John G. Camp. In this county Lemuel Wasson, of Hamburg, was chosen sheriff, and Elijah Leech, of Buffalo, county clerk. To represent the county in the assembly the anti-masons elected David Burt, of Buffalo, and the young Aurora lawyer, Millard Fillmore, who then first entered public life. Dr. Johnson was again appointed surrogate, in place of Roswell Chapin. Notwithstanding the feebleness of the Democracy in this county, a paper was established during the campaign to dis- seminate their principles, which has adhered to that party ever since, and which, after several changes of name, has for thirty years been known as the Buffalo Courier. At its birth it was called the Buffalo Republican. It was during the semi-decade under consideration in this chapter, that there, began to appear in Erie county a few scat- tered families of a nationality which is now represented within our borders by near eighty thousand of our most prosperous citizens. A few Germans had come to Buffalo on the comple- tion of the canal, and from year to year thereafter. One of the number, Mr. E. C. Grey, who came in 1828, says there were not over twenty-five German families in Buffalo when he arrived. There were substantially none in the country towns. From that time forward the number kept steadily increasing, and I shall endeavor as fully as practicable to trace their growth up to its present remarkable development. The anti-masons continued to hold sway throughout 1829, and the adhering masons gradually decreased in numbers. Then or not long afterwards the Erie county lodges gave up their charters. In the fall of 1829 Albert H. Tracy again entered political life, being elected State senator by the anti-masons, by a majority of over seven thousand in the eighth senatorial dis- trict. At the same time Mr. Fillmore was reelected to the as- sembly, in which he had taken high rank by his industry and talents. The other member then elected was Edmund Hull, of Clarence. Thomas C. Love resigned the post of first judge to accept that of district-attorney, from which General Potter retired after ten years of service — the longest time that any one has held that office in the county. Associate-judge Philander Ben- ^S6 MARILLA, XEWSTKAD, ETC. nett was made first judge in place of Love, and James Stryker appointed associate. The supervisors for 1829 and 1830, so far as known, were as follows : Amherst, Timothy S. Hopkins ; Alden, Moses Case ; Buffalo, Ebenezer Walden ; Boston, Epaphras Steele ; Clarence, Benjamin O. Bivins and John Brown ; Collins, Nathaniel Knight ; Colden, Silas Lewis and William Lewis ; Eden, Levi Bunting ; Hamburg, Joseph Foster ; Holland, Chase Fuller ; Sardinia, Horace Clark ; Wales, Niles Cole and Moses McArthur. Most of the present town of Marilla was included in the tract bought of the Lidians. Its excellent soil caused it to be quickly settled as soon as the land was for sale. Jeremiah and G. W. Carpenter opened farms near the site of Marilla village in 1829 and '30. Jesse Bartoo had settled still earlier, near what is now Porterville, but was long called Bartoo's Mills. The large tract purchased in Erie (Newstead) was also rapidly filling up. The Erie post-office was on the old Buffalo road, but business had already begun to be drawn toward what is now the village of Akron, and in 1828 or'29 Jonathan Russell opened a store there. For some unknown reason the place was ere long called " The Corporation," and for many years went prin- cipally by that name. The interior of the vast limestone ridge, however, was as yet unexplored. Meanwhile Williamsville, which had remained about the same ever since the close of the war, began to revive. Oziel Smith bought the extensiv^e mill-property, which had been unused for some time, new machinery was set in motion, and the place began to assume the appearance of progress. Li 1829 the Catholics had become so numerous at Buffalo that Bishop Dubois paid them a visit, preached, and administered the sacraments of his Church. He states that he found seven or eight hundred Catholics, instead of the seventy or eighty he had expected. He speaks of hearing the confessions of two hun- dred Swiss, and the same year he sent thither Father Nicholas Merz, the first Catholic priest settled in Buffalo. There were also a few Catholics in Lancaster at that time, but none else- where in the county, except scattered individuals. Up to this time there had been substantially no means of ed- ucation higher than that of a common school, outside of Buffalo, THE VILLAGE LAWYER. 387 and very little even in that village. Mr. Theodotus Burwcll, afterwards Judge Burwell, was then conducting an academy there. For several years efforts had been made to have an academy in Springville. At length one was incorporated, and the first election of trustees took place in 1829. Two thousand five hundred dollars were raised by sub.scription, in shares of fifteen dollars, and a building was begun. In the spring of 1829 Mr. George W. Johnson, a young grad- uate of Dartmouth college, opened a classical school, or academy, at Aurora village ; the first of its kind, out of Buffalo, in the county. Mr. J. mentions Joseph Howard, Jr., a leading mer- chant and hotel-keeper of that village, as one of the warmest patrons of both the private academy and the public one which suc- ceeded it. In June, while conducting his school, Mr. Johnson became a law student in the office of Millard Fillmore, who had just returned from his first session in the legislature. The other students were a gentleman named Warren, and Nathan K. Hall, the son of a shoemaker in the adjoining town of Wales. Mr. Johnson, who after a long professional life in Buffalo is now a resident of Niagara county, has furnished me with some reminiscences of that period, from which I extract a few relating to the future President. Mr. J. speaks of him as being ever the same accessible, genial and obliging gentleman, rarely or never losing his temper, and noted for quiet, persistent industry. These are traits with which all are familiar who know anything of the distinguished gentleman in question ; there were others not so generally known, and which were perhaps overlaid by the cares and dignities of his subsequent life. His quondam student relates that he had a quick sense of the ridiculous, large imitative powers, and much amusing but inoffen- sive humor, which made him a capital teller of anecdotes and stories ; he not only relating the story, but with voice and gest- ure " acting it out " to the life. While fond of humor, however, he was not given to wit, and in sarcastic wit he never indulged. His student, and subsequent cabinet-officer, Mr. Hall, was some- what like him in both respects, as well as in his other qualities of industry, perseverance and moderation. Mr. Fillmore, while in Aurora, eked out the slender income of a village lawyer by frequent practice as a land-surveyor, being 388 AMBITIOUS HOPES. the owner of a compass and otlier surveyini^ instruments, for which there was more use then than now. Obtaining sufficient exercise in that way, he rarely or never sought recreation in the neighboring forest with rifle or fish-pole, as did almost all young men of the period. One of his few relaxations was to sit before his ofiice of a summer evening, in the midst of a group of vil- lagers, smoking his pipe, and relating and listening to anecdotes and gossip. On one of these occasions, during a lull in the con- versation, Mr. Johnson suddenly accosted him, saying: "Mr. Fillmore, why don't you get into Congress, and procure by your influence profitable positions for Hall and me.'" The oddity of the question excited a general laugh, for Mr. Fillmore, though a member of the assembly, was still only a village lawyer and country surveyor. Deliberately taking his pipe from his mouth, however, and puffing forth a cloud of smoke, he replied, quite seriously: "Stranger things than that have happened, Mr. Johnson." And much stranger things than that did happen. In the summer of 1829 Mr. Fillmore was the orator on the Fourth of July, and young Hall the reader of the declaration. And this brings me to notice that in those times the " glorious Fourth" was celebrated with a regularity now unknown. Every year, in the vicinity of 1830, I find a record of its due commem- oration in Aurora, and I presume the same was the case in other villages of similar si/.e. By 1830 the opponents of Jackson's administration through- out the country had generally assumed the name of National Republicans, but in Western New York the anti-masons still ab- sorbed nearly all the elements of opposition. In the autumn of that year they elected Bates Cooke, of Niagara county, to rep- resent this district in Congress. Mr. Fillmore, who had mean- while moved to Buffalo and entered into partnership with his old tutor, Joseph Clary, was chosen to the assembly for the third time, and with him Nathaniel Knight, for several years super- visor of Collins. Mr. Knight was the first assemblyman from any town south of Aurora and Hamburg. The supervisors for the year were Moses Case of Alden, T. S. Hopkins of Amherst, Jonathan Hoyt of Aurora, Ebenezer Walden of Buffalo, Epaphras Steele of Boston, William Lewis POST-OFFICES IN 183O. 389 of Golden, Oliver Needham of Concord, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, John Brown of Clarence, Jonathan Hascall, Jr., of Evans, Levi Bunting of Eden, Elisha Smith of Hamburg, Chase Fuller of Holland, John Boyer of Erie, Horace Clark of Sardinia, and Moses McArthur of Wales. By the census of 1830 the population of the county was 35,719; showing an increase of 11,413, or forty-seven per cent., in five years. The population of Buffalo was 8,668. From a register of that year I find there were then twenty- seven post-offices in the county. I have been able to give the exact year of establishing many of them; the others had all been established between 1825 and 1830. Nine of the sixteen towns had one office each, viz., Alden, Amherst, Boston, Eden, Erie, Colden, Concord, Holland and Sardinia. Each was of the same name as the town, except those in Amherst and Con- cord, which were named respectively VVilliamsville and Spring- ville. Four towns had two offices each; Aurora having VVillink and Griffin's Mills ; Clarence having Clarence and Cayuga Creek ; Evans having Evans and East Evans ; and Wales hav- ing Wales and South Wales. Two towns had three offices each ; Buffalo, with Buffalo, Black Rock and Tonawanda ; and Hamburg, with Hamburg, East Hamburg and Hamburg-on-the- Lake. Finally, the fertile fields of Collins must have attracted a very large emigration, or else its people were especially given to letters, as that town had four post-offices in 1830 — Collins, Angola, Collins Center and Zoar. It will be seen that two of the offices, discontinued when that of " Hamburg " was located at Abbott's Corners, had been re- established, though one of them took the name of " Hamburg- on-the-Lake," instead of "Barkersville." The office at "Collins" was then kept by Elijah Kerr, and it must have been near that time that the little hamlet there, which had previously been known as Rose's Corners, began to be called Kerr's Corners. I'he post- master at South Wales was then Nathan M. Mann, but he offi- ciated only a little while, when David S. Warner was appointed, who, with a short interval, has held the place ever since. He is probably the senior postmaster in the county. In this year (1830) the Springville academy building was fin- ished, and the academy opened in it, under the charge of Hiram 390 CONDITION OK THE COUNTY. H. Barney, Esq., afterwards principal of Aurora academy, and still later commissioner of schools of the State of Ohio. This was the first incorporated high school, with a building of its own, in the county, not excluding Buffalo. It will have been observed that there was in the county, out- side of Buffalo, about thirty thousand people. There are now sixty thousand. But of these about ten thousand are residents of the towns carved out of the Buffalo Creek reservation, and of Grand Island. So that, in the towns then settled, outside of Buffalo, the increase has been but about sixty-six per cent. The country towns had then begun to assume something of their present appearance. Nearly all the villages now existing were then in being — and many of them were nearly as large as now. The buildings in them, however, were by no means as large or expensive as at the present day. There was probably not a three-story building in the county except in Buffalo, and several villages were not yet in existence. Log houses were frequently seen, even on the main roads, and on the back roads were still in the majority. Few new ones, however, were built. Of the frame houses the common ones re- tained their original wood-color, but the aristocracy covered theirs with a coat of glowing red. The old well-sweep still held its own, or was replaced by a windlass; the pump was still an institution seldom affected by the farmer. The animals of the forest were still often seen, though in de- creasing numbers every year. Along the Cattaraugus the bears lasted longer than the wolves, and were still frequent in 1830. One case, occurring about that year, was especially noted, in which an old Sardinia bear and four cubs were slain in one short cam- paign. She was driven across the creek, and shot in Cattarau- i/us. but swam back to her home on this side, where she and all her family were finally slain. Deer frequently strayed even into the immediate vicinity of Buffalo. Mr. William Hodge mentions killing deer about 1828 and '30 in the vicinity of the Insane Asylum, and as far south as the Normal School. On the 20th of January, 1830, the renowned orator. Red Jacket, died at his log cabin near the mission church, on the Buffalo reservation, lie had sunk very low since the time of his DEATH OF Ri:U JACKET. 391 great struggle over the question of his rank, even hiring himself to keepers of museums to be exhibited for money. Having returned home, and being satisfied that death was approaching. he rallied his waning powers to give counsel to his people. He visited his friends at their cabins, conversed with them on the wrongs of the Indians, and urged them when he was gone to heed his counsels, to retain their lands and to resist all efforts to convert them to the habits of the white man. According to McKenney's "Indian Biography," he was anxious that his fu- neral should be celebrated in the Indian manner. "Bury me," he said "by the side of my former wife ; and let " my funeral be according to the customs of our nation. Let " me be dressed and equipped as my fathers were, that their "spirits may rejoice at my coming. Be sure that my grave be " not made by a white man ; let them not pursue me there." Nevertheless, while thus earnest, he was not so bitter as he had formerly been. Almost at the last he convened a council of his people, both Christians and pagans, and advised them to live in harmony, leaving every one to choose his religion with- out interference. He was taken mortally sick (with cholera morbus) during the council, but a resolution was adopted in accordance with his wishes, at which he was much pleased. He said he knew the attack was fatal, and refused all medical aid. One of his last requests was that, when she saw him near- ing his end, his wife should place in his hand a certain vial of water, to keep the devil from taking his soul ! Thus, enveloped in the superstitions of his race, passed away the last of the Iro- quois orators, the renowned Red Jacket. His precise age was unknown, but he was probably about seventy-five. His sons had all died before him, and but one or two daughters remained of a large family, who mostly fell victims to consumption. Notwithstanding his wishes, as the members of the Wolf clan, to which he belonged, were largely Christian, as well as his wife and her family, he w^as buried according to the rites of the Christian Church. The remains of Red Jacket had a strange fate, though one not inconsistent with his own hapless career. For many years his grave remained unmarked. In 1839, however, a subscrip- tion was set on foot under the auspices of the actor, Henry 392 THE orator's remains. Placide, and a marble slab with a suitable inscription placed over his grave. Long after the Senecas had removed to the Cat- taraugus reservation, some admirers of the orator, perhaps fear- ing that his grave would be ploughed up, took up his bones and put them in a lead coffin, intending to remove them to Forest Lawn. His Indian friends, however, heard of the project with strong dislike, and immediately came from Cattaraugus, and de- manded and obtained the precious relics. The monument was afterwards transferred to the rooms of the Buffalo Historical So- ciety, where it still remains. The most singular part of the matter is that the bones were never reburied. When visiting the Cattaraugus reservation, with other parts of the county, last year, I was informed that the mortal remains of the most celebrated orator produced by the aborigines of America are preserved in a bag, under the bed of an old Indian woman who has constituted herself their custodian ! "THE YKAR THAT HOLT WAS HUNG." 393 CHAPTER XXXIV. 1831 TO 1835. " The Year that Holt was Hung."' — An Ugly Captive. — Political. — Newstead Ab- bey and Newstead Town. — The White Woman. — Buffalo Incorporated. — Eillmore in Congress. — The Cholera. — Allen, Haskins and Pierce. — A Mid- night Scene. — Commercial Progress. — Lancaster. — Senators, Assemblymen, etc. — Speculation . The first year of the new decade passed ahiiost eventless away. The circunistance which most strongly marks it on the memo- ries of old settlers is that it was " the year that Holt was hung." Murders had not yet become so common in the county as to be flung aside with the morning paper. Nearly seven years had passed since the last one, and a still longer time was to elapse before there should be another ; so, although the execution of the wretch who slew his wife with a hammer, in their room over his grocery, on Main street, Buffalo, obtained no such celebrity as the awful doom of the three brothers in 1825, still it formed an era to which local events are often referred by the men of that day. The crime was quickly punished; it was committed in October, Holt pleaded guilty the same month, and he was executed on the 22d of November. It was "the year that Holt was hung" as Mr. Mills Hall, of Wales, relates, that nearly if not quite the last wolf was seen in that town. Having set a trap for the purpose, young Hall, with his brother and another youth, visited it one morning, and found a gigantic sheep-destroyer fast in its embrace. Desiring to ex- hibit their trophy alive. Mills Hall seized the wolf by the head, one of the others supported his shoulders, and the third grasped his hind legs, and thus they bore him home. On the way his wolfship twisted his head around so as to slightly bite his fore- most bearer, but the latter only tightened his grasp, and the struggling animal was carried safely to the little village of Hall's Hollow. There he was exhibited for a few days, and then slain. A bounty of twenty-five dollars rewarded the captors. 26 394 NEWSTEAD ABBEY AND NEVVSTEAD TOWN. The Anti-Masonic-National-Republican opposition to Jack- son's administration still maintained absolute control of the county, and in the Hill of 1831 elected to the assembly William Mills, of Clarence, and Horace Clark, of Sardinia. At the same time, Stephen Osborn, of Clarence, was chosen sheriff, and Noah P. Sprague, of Buffalo, county clerk. Edward Paine, of Aurora, was appointed associate-judge. In April, 1831, the name of the town of Erie was changed to '■ Newstead." It is said that there was much confusion and dif- ficulty on account of letters going to Erie, Pennsylvania ; so it was determined to alter the name of the town, preparatory to changing that of the post-office. But the inhabitants could not agree on a satisfactory appellation, and so sent their petition to Mr. Fillmore, their representative in the assembly, requesting him to have the name changed, and leaving him to select a sub- stitute. This being a matter of taste, he consulted his wife. Mrs. F. happened to be reading Byron at the time, and she rec- ommended the title of the noble poet's ancestral hall, " New- stead Abbey," as a convenient and euphonious designation for the new town. Her husband adopted her suggestion, and in due time the name of Byron's home was transferred to the northeastern town of Erie county. As I understand it, the name of the post-office was also changed to Newstead, and afterwards again changed to Akroji. The supervisors for 1831, so far as known, were T. S. Hop- kins of Amherst, Moses Case of Alden, John Brown of Clar- ence, Ebenezer Walden of Buffalo, Epaphras Steele of Boston, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, Thomas M. Barrett of Concord, Erastus Bingham of Colden, Levi Bunting of Iiden, Elisha Smith of Flamburg, Chase F^uller of Holland, John Boyer of Newstead, George S. Collins of Sardinia, and Moses jMcArthur of Wales. It was about 1831 or 1832 that the first Germans — that is, na- tive Germans, as distinguished from Pennsylvania Germans — be- gan to settle in the county, outside of Buffalo. They located in and about White's Corners, now Hamburg, and some of them found their way to the high land in the eastern part of Eden. Among minor matters it may be noted that the Congregational church at Griffin's Mills (Aurora) was built in 1831. MARY JEMISON. 395 In the year 183 1, there came to make her home in the county of Erie one whose Ufe had been of the most strange and ro- mantic character — albeit the romance was of such a kind that few would wish to undergo her experience. Born on the At- Lmtic, in 1743, while her parents were migrating from the old world to the new, the restless billows of Mary Jemison's birth- place well typified the ever-changing vicissitudes of her long career. At the age of twelve she saw her home on the frontier of Pennsylvania destroyed by a band of savages, and all its in- mates save herself — father, mother, brothers and sisters — all slain by the same ruthless foes. But the caprice so often manifested by the Indians toward their captives induced them to spare her alone, and to take her to Fort Du Ouesne. There she was adopted by two Indian sisters, who treated her with the greatest kindness and gave her the name of Dehhewamis. Ere she had hardly attained to womanhood she was required to wed a young Delaware brave, and, though she became the bride of an Indian with great reluctance, yet, as she always de- clared, his unvarying kindness was such as to gain her affection. "Strange as it may seem," she said, "I loved him." For some unknown reason she went (on foot, with her children on her back) several hundred miles from her home on the Ohio, to take up her residence among the Senecas on the Genesee, where her husband was to join her. He died, however, before doing so. This is the most curious part of her story, and it looks as if there was something hidden about that portion of her life. She soon married a Seneca, a monster of cruelty toward his enemies, but kind to her. By this time she had become so fully reconciled to her savage surroundings that she declined the op- portunity to return to the whites, afforded by the peace between England and France, and when an old chief sought to take her to Fort Niagara by force, to obtain the reward offered for pris- oners thus delivered up, she used every means to baffle his efforts, and finally succeeded in doing so. She remained among the Senecas during the Revolution, her cabin being the habitual stopping-place for Butler, Brant and other leaders, while going on or returning from their raids against the wretched inhabitants of the frontier. When Sullivan came on 396 A WILD CAREER. his mission of vengeance, her cabin and crops were destroyed with the others ; I say " her," for she seems to have been the principal personage in the household, as well of her second as of her first husband. With her two youngest children on her back and three others following after, she hunted up a couple of runaway negroes living with the Senecas, whose crop had es- caped destruction, and by husking their corn on shares obtained enough to feed herself and children through the winter. She remained near her old haunts when most of the Senecas came west, and, when they sold to Phelps and Gorham, she managed to procure for herself a reservation of near thirty square miles. This might have afforded her an ample fortune, and she did draw considerable revenue from it. But she showed little desire for the comforts of civilized life, and retained to a great extent the dress, appearance and habits of a squaw. She was commonly called "The White Woman" by the Indians, and even those of her own race generally adopted this curious appellation. In time her second husband died, leaving his savage charac- teristics to his eldest son, who developed a nature of the deepest malignity, inflamed by drunkenness, who in different quarrels slew his only two brothers, and who was finally murdered him- self in a drunken brawl. Sad indeed were the latter days of the old "Wliite Woman," and they were made still more so by the progress of settlement, which shut her off from the wild com- panions of so many years. At length she determined to spend her remaining days with her old friends, and in 1831, at the age of eighty-eight, she dis- posed of her remaining interest on the Genesee and came to make her last home on the Buffalo Creek reservation. There, amid the barbaric customs which had so strangely fascinated her, she survived for two more years ; and then Mary Jemison, Dehhewamis, "The White Woman," found rest in the grave, after nine decades of a tempest-tossed life. In 1832 Buffalo was incorporated as a city, with five wards, and a population of about ten thousand. Two aldermen were elected in each ward, and they, under the charter, elected the mayor and other executive officers. Dr. Ebenezer Johnson was chosen the first mayor of the infant city. George P. Barker, a MR. FILLMORE IN CONGRESS. 397 young lawyer admitted to the bar only three years before, was the first city-attorney. The supervisors chosen in the spring, of which there happens to be a complete list, were Jacob Hershey of Amherst, Jonathan Hoyt of Aurora, Epaphras Steele of Boston, James L. Barton of Buffalo, John Brown of Clarence, Erastus Bingham of Colden, Nathaniel Knight of Collins, Carlos Emmons of Concord, James Green of Eden, Orange H. Dibble of Evans, Elisha Smith of Hamburg, Chase Fuller of Holland, John Boyer of Newstead, George S. Collins of Sardinia, and Nathan M. Mann of Wales. In the fall (which, as will be remembered', was the time of Jackson's second election) the two Erie county members of as- sembly, Mills and Clark, were both reelected. At the same time Millard Fillmore was chosen to represent the thirtieth district of New York in Congress. To achieve such a success at the age of thirty-two is most creditable to the abilities of any man ; and was all the more so in this case, the young congressman having had absolutely no aid from extraneous sources, and having achieved his entrance into the national legislature only nine years after commencing life in a country village, as an attorney in the Common Pleas. What makes this rapid success the more remarkable is that Mr. Fillmore had none of those attributes by which the people are most easily captivated. He was neither a " hail-fellow " nor a brilliant orator. He succeeded, and succeeded rapidly, by virtue of industry, perseverance, clear reason and sound judgment. It will be understood that the only difficulty was in regard to the nomination ; the election of the anti-administration candi- date was a foregone conclusion. The strength of the feeling is shown by the fact that in this county William L. Marcy, the Democratic candidate for governor, received but 1,743 votes, while 4,356 votes were cast for Francis Granger, the opposition nominee. Israel T. Hatch, a young lawyer just come to Buffalo, was appointed surrogate in place of Martin Chittenden, deceased. The latter, together with Henry White, a brilliant and much- admired young advocate, had fallen a victim to the cholera; for it was in 1832 that that dreadful scourge made its first visit to the shores of America. 398 THE CHOLERA. Passing along the main thoroughfares it inflicted a heavy blow upon Buffalo, but it did not spread into the country. Yet none knew what track the destroyer might take, and for many weeks every village waited with fear and trembling the appearance of this hitherto unknown scourge. During a few weeks of July and August there were a hundred and eighty-four cases in Buffalo, 6( which eighty proved fatal. The number was large, for the population of the young city, and the horror was rendered greater by the mysterious character of the disease. The board of health of the new city had for a time plenty of business. It consisted of Dr. Johnson, as mayor, Lewis F. Al- len and Roswell W. Haskins. Dr. IMarshall was city physician, and Loren Pierce was city undertaker. All were vigilant and effecti\'e, and spared no sacrifice in their efforts to counteract and circumscribe the disease. Very likely Mr. Haskins was no more zealous than the others, but his peculiar ways drew particular attention. An energetic and somewhat eccentric man, a printer by trade, and for many years a newspaper proprietor, his character, as described by his contemporaries, reminds one in some respects of that of Horace Greeley. Being a person of nervous quickness of move- ment, and most incisive language, every one noticed what he did, and many still remember him hurrying around tlie stricken city, removing patients to the hospital, and sometimes carrying one down stairs, from some wretched tenement house, on his own strong shoulders. Of a far different temperament, Mr. Pierce performed his du- ties in the quietest possible manner, bearing the victims of the mysterious destroyer to their last repose with unfailing prompt- ness and unflinching courage, but as calmly as if nothing un- usual was transpiring. Mr. Allen, who himself served throughout the crisis with unflagging zeal, narrates a curious instance of the sang-froid of the worthy undertaker. One night, in the very height of the cholera season, Mr. A. had retired to rest at his residence on Main street, exhausted with the labors of the day, when a terrific thunder-storm burst forth, extending far into the night. About midnight he was awakened by a rapping at the window. Going to the door he found Loren Pierce. The thunderbolts were resounding contin- A MIDNIGHT SCENE. 399 uously through the heavens, the h'ghtnings were flashing from side to side of the abyss of darkness, and the rain was falHng in torrents. It was an era of dread, and visions of some new form of disease and death rose before the appalled mind of the mem- ber of the board of health. "For Heaven's sake, Pierce," he exclaimed, "what is the mat- ter.^ Is there any new trouble.^" "No," quietly replied the undertaker, "nothing new; I have six bodies in the wagon out here, going to the graveyard, and I thought perhaps you would like to know that everything was all right." "Good heavens," said the astonished Allen, "have you called me up on such a night as this, to tell me that you are taking six corpses to the graveyard in a storm that is almost enough to drown the city.? You don't mean to say that you are alone.?" "Oh no," replied Pierce, "Black Tony is with me — he is holding the horses now — I guess we can manage it." Mr. Allen had no directions to give — in fact had nothing to say — and away through the midnight storm and darkness moved the man of death, with his solitary assistant, Black Tony, to dispose of his ghastly burthen. It must have taken nearly all night, yet at eight o'clock the next morning he was at the meeting of the board of health, composed and quiet as ever. The cholera returned in 1834, when another epoch of death and dismay occurred. It then ceased its visitations for nearly twenty years, and, save by the immediate friends of the dead, it was soon forgotten in the increasing prosperity of the city and county. The citizens of Aurora had made frequent endeavors to turn Mr. Johnson's private academy into an incorporated institution, and when that gentleman removed to Buffalo, in 1832, they raised, by subscription, the money to erect a building and obtained a charter from the legislature. The building was completed, and the school opened, the next year. In 1834, also, a church-build- ing was erected by the Presbyterians in Springville, and another at "Cayuga Creek," the first, respectively, in the present towns of Concord and Lancaster. About the same time (I cannot learn the exact year) the same denomination built a church at Lodi — now Gowanda. 400 PROSPERITY AND IXFLATIOX. Wc have now reached the time when the tide of commerce began to roll steadily through our borders. The fertile lands of Michigan, northern Indiana, northern Illinois and other parts of the West were opened to settlement, and their products began to find their way into the Erie canal. Its boats now went loaded to the sea coast, and brought back crowds of emigrants, most of whom went farther west, but many of whom sought the compan- ionship of their countrymen in and around Buffalo. Almost at the same time, the closing of the United States Bank caused the chartering of a large number of State banks, which issued an immense amount of paper money. Frequently the guaranties required by the States were wretchedly inade- quate, especially in the West and South, so that the new money had no better foundation than the faith of the people. From these two causes, the increase of western production, and the increase of money, the one real and the other fictitious, there followed a general inflation of business and advance of prices. This inflation extended throughout the United States, but nowhere else was it quite so balloon-like in its growth and collapse as along the line of the great lakes, where both the causes above mentioned were in their fullest vigor. The first symptoms of the great "land speculation" began to be seen in 1833, but they were comparatively slight. In 1834 the tide rose considerably higher, and in 1835 there was a de- cided fever, though still the mania had not reached its climax- Before noticing farther the great speculation which holds so im- portant a place in the history of the count}-, there are some routine matters that need mention. There had been no new towns formed since the creation of Colden, in 1827. Though Clarence was about seventeen miles long, (besides the part included in the reservation,) the steady- going Pennsylvania Germans who formed a large part of its population were in no haste to create a new set of officers. At length, however, the numbers in the southern part of the town became so large that a division was almost imperative, and on the 20th of March, 1833, a new town was formed, comprising the eleventh township in the sixth range of the Holland Com- pany's survey, and that part of the mile-and-a-half-strip, sold in 1826, which lay opposite that township — besides a nominal MR. TRACY IN THE SENATE. 4OI jurisdiction over the unsold Indian land, to the center of the reservation. As Chirence had been named after one EngHsh dukedom, that of another was selected for the new town, which received the appellation of Lancaster. The flourishing settlement so long called "Cayuga Creek" was now known by the more con- venient designation of " Lancaster," and not long afterwards the o'fficial name of the post-office at that point was similarly changed. This was emphatically the church-building era in Erie county. Every few months a new one was erected. The Methodist church at Clarence Hollow was built in 1834. The same year the Baptists built one at Springville. In the fall of 1833, Joseph Clary, of Buffalo, and Dr. Carlos Emmons, of Springville, were chosen to represent the county in the assembly, and Albert H. Tracy was reelected to the State senate. This gentleman had taken very high rank in the senate, especially when that body was sitting as the Court for the Cor- rection of Errors, then the highest judicial tribunal in the State. A large number of the opinions in that court were written and delivered by Mr. Tracy, and the acumen and legal knowledge displayed in them showed that, had he accepted the judgeship tendered him by Governor Clinton, he would have stood in the first rank of the judicial minds of the State. The mayor of Buffalo in 1833 was a gentleman with the peculiar name of Major A. Andrews. In 1834, William A. Mosely, of Buffalo, and Ralph Plumb, of Lodi, were elected to the assembly, while Lester Brace, of Black Rock, was chosen sheriff, and Horace Clark, of Sardinia, county clerk. In that year, too, Thomas C. Love was elected to Con- gress by the dominant party, in place of Mr. Fillmore. Usually the dropping of a congressman by his own party, after a single term, indicates that he has been "shelved," but such was not the result in Mr. Fillmore's case. Dr. Johnson was again chosen as mayor of Buffalo. In 1835 the assemblymen elect were George P. Barker, of Buffalo, and Wells Brooks, of Concord— the latter a young lawyer who had established himself, as had C. C. Severance, at Spring- ville, two or three years before. Buffalo's first officer this year was Hiram Pratt, who will be remembered as the young cavalier 402 SUPERVISORS AND NEWSPAPERS. of the Chapin .i^irls, in their fli-ht from Buffalo on the terrible 30th of December, 18 13. The supervisors for the three last years of the semi-decade in- cluded in this chapter were as follows: Alden, 1833 and '34, Jonathan Larkin ; 1835, Moses Case. Amherst, for the three years, John Hutchinson. Aurora, 1833 and '34, Jonathan Hoyt; 1835. John C. Pratt. Buffalo, 1833, John G. Camp; 1834, un- known ; 1835, James L. Barton. Boston, 1833, Epaphras Steele ; 1834, John C. Twining; 1835, Thomas Twining. Concord, 1833, Carlos Emmons; 1834, unknown ; 1835, Oliver Needham. Col- lins, Ralph Plumb, the three years. Colden, Leander J. Roberts, the three years. Clarence, Benjamin O. Bivins, the three years. Eden, 1833 and '34, Harvey Caryl; 1835, Daniel Web.ster. Evans, Aaron Salisbur\-, the three years. Hamburg, Elisha Smith, the three years. Holland, 1833 and '34, Moses McArthur ; 1835, Isaac Humphrey. Lancaster, 1833 and '34, John Brown; 1835, Milton McNeal. Newstead, 1833, Wm. Jackson; 1834, un- known; 1835, Cyrus Hopkins. Sardinia, Henry Bowen, the three years. Wales, N. M. Mann, the three years. In 1834 the first daily newspaper was issued in the county, under the name of the Buffalo Daily Star. It was Democratic in politics ; so the proprietors of the Patriot, the chief opposi- tion organ, followed suite, on the first day of the next year, with a daily called the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. The Star was soon united to the Republican, and with it in due time transformed into the Courier. In 1835 the Aurora Standard was established by A. M. Clapp at that village, where it was published for three years. In 1834 the first work was done on Grand Island by legal owners of the soil. Lewis F. Allen, on behalf of a Boston com- pany, had bought all the lands purchased by Leggett, Smith and others, at the time of the "Ararat" excitement, amounting to about 16,000 acres. The principal object was to cut the white-oak ship-timber with which the island abounded, and send it to Bos- ton. A steam-mill and several houses were erected opposite Tonawanda. About the same time Mr. Allen found Noah's old corner-stone in the possession of General Porter, who had taken charge of it at Noah's request, after it had stood for two or three years behind St. Paul's church. Mr. A. persuaded the general NOAIl'S CORNKR-STONE. 4O3 to let him have it, took it to "White Haven," as he called his little settlement, erected a brick monument six feet square and fourteen feet high, and set the historic stone in a niche on its river front. Nearly all who saw it supposed that Major Noah went through the ceremony of founding- his city there, and placed the stone where it was so plainly to be seen — though, in fact, the redoubtable "Judge of Israel " never set foot on Grand Island. The monument remained standing some fifteen years, when, having become dilapidated, it was taken down. The " corner-stone " was removed to various places on the island, but was finally secured by Mr. Allen and presented to the Buffalo Historical Society, in whose rooms it now stands, side by side with the monument of Red Jacket. In view of Noah's idea that the Indians were descended from the lost tribes of Israel, there is a peculiar and poetic fitness in the juxtaposition of the two memorials. As I have said, a slight advance of prices began to be ob- served in 1833. They increased through 1834, and in 1835 the great speculation was under full headway. It of course ran highest in Buffalo, but was strongly felt throughout the county. All up the lakes, too, wherever there was a possibility of a har- bor, and sometimes where there was not even a possibility, a city was laid out, a magnificent name was given it, and its pro- prietors became Rothschilds and Astors — on paper. That there was some ground for the advance in Buffalo is shown by the fact that the population had increased from 8,653 i" 1830, to 15,661 in 1835, or more than eighty-one per cent. The popula- tion of the whole county in 1835 was 57,594, to 35,719 in 1830, an increase of over sixty-one per cent. The Bufifalonians, however, had not quite forgotten everything else in their desire to make money. It was just at the close of 1835 that the Young Men's Association of that city was organ- ized, though it was not chartered till eight years later. Begin- ning with few members, a diminutive library and an infinitesimal treasury, it has ever since grown with the city's growth, exercis- ing each year a wider influence for intellectual improvement. Church-building, too, had gone on apace, and there were thirteen houses of worship in the youthful city, in place of the six of three -years before. One of these was Presbyterian, one Con- 404 ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. gregational, one Methodist, one Episcopal, one Baptist, one Universalist, one Reformed Methodist, one Unitarian, one Ger- man Lutheran, one German EvangcUcal, one Bethel chapel, and two Roman Catholic. By this time the little village of Collins Center had advanced so that the Methodists built a church there. In that year, too, the first anti-slavery society in the county was organized at Griffin's Mills. Judge Mills, of Clarence,] udge Freeman, of Alden, Judge Phelps, of Aurora, George W. John- son, Abner Bryant, and Daniel Bowen, of Buffalo, and Asa Warren, of Eden, were among the leading members, and the work then commenced was continued by yearly meetings and discussions till the abolition of slavery. THE FLUSH TIMES. 405 CHAPTER XXXV. SPECULATION AND HARD TIMES. A Rapid Advance. — A Princely Bargainer. — The King of Speculators. — His Down- fall.— The Method of his Forgeries. — Politics and Business. — Opposing the Holland Company. — An Agrarian Convention. Early in 1836 the flame of speculation blazed up with redoub- led energy. I cannot better illustrate the extraordinary state of affairs existing at that time than by repeating an anecdote, re- lated by the late James L. Barton. In 181 5 he had bought two lots at Black Rock for two hun- dred and fifty dollars ; one of two-thirds of an acre, between Niagara street and the river, and one of five acres, about half a mile distant. For a long time there was but a slight advance in the price. In the fall of 1835, however, land rose rapidly, and Mr. B. began to think that those lots might perhaps bring him three thousand dollars. In the forepart of February, 1836, he left Buffalo, and did not return till the 20th of April. He knew that land was up, and was determined to ask a round price for his lots. As he was passing down Main street, the morning after his arrival, some one met him and inquired : " How much will you take for those Black Rock lots of yours.'" " Six thousand dollars," was the prompt reply of Mr. Barton. The man hesitated and Barton passed on. A few minutes later he was accosted by another gentleman with the same query : " What is your price for those Black Rock lots .'' " " Seven thousand five hundred dollars," answered Barton. " I guess I'll take them — let you know to-morrow," said his interlocutor. A little farther down the street a third man stop- ped him, and as they shook hands said : " Glad to see you ; what will you take for your lots down at Black Rock .? " 406 A RAPID ADVANCE. " I have just offered them to Air. for seven thousand five hundred dollars," replied l^arton ; " he said he would let me know to-morrow." " If he doesn't take them, I will," quickly exclaimed the anx- ious speculator. By this time Mr. Barton's ideas of the value of his property had become very much elevated. He had gone but a few rods farther when he heard a shout, and a man came rushing" across the street, exclaiming as he came up : " I say, Barton, what is your price for those lots of yours at the Rock ? " " Twenty thousand dollars," immediately replied the excited land-owner. " What are your terms ? " " Ten per cent, down and the rest in four annual payments ? " " Make it six payments and I will take them," said the other. Barton assented, they walked into an office, the two thousand dollars was paid over, and the next day the deed and the bond and mortgage were exchanged. Mr. Barton does not state whether he ever received the eighteen thousand dollars secured by bond and mortgage. If he did, he was more fortunate than most of those who sold land on credit in that era. And it was almost entirely on credit that sales were made. Notwithstanding the cheapness of paper money, bonds and mort- gages were still cheaper. Mr. Barton received a larger cash per- centage than was usually paid. There was no such thing as land clear of incumbrance. Second and third mortgages were common. Hon. George R. Babcock relates that nearly the whole of outer lot No, i, extend- ing from Main street to the first angle of the Terrace, and thence southwestwardly to the dock, was sold for a great sum, and the only money used was the seventy-five cents paid to Mr. B., as commissioner of deeds, for acknowledging the papers. The late Guy H. Salisbury, in a sketch of those times, de- clared that everybody was so intent on the subject of buying and selling land, that physicians, when asked how their medi- cine was to be taken, replied : " One-fourth down and the rest in three annual installments." A PRINCELY PURCHASER. 407 One Patrick Smith, a saddler, being- asked by an old customer when he could do a piece of work, replied with dignity : " My man, I don't do any more business now ; I've bought a lot." All was excitement. Men of sagacity bought of unknown persons, without knowledge of title or incumbrances. Men of no means built blocks on credit, gave mortgages, and sold out with no security against those incumbrances. Of the financial magnates of the day, Col. Alanson Palmer was one of the first. Perhaps he ranked as the second greatest man in Buffalo. No one bought or sold with more royal disre- gard of trifles than he. Seated at table, with a friend, where the champagne passed freely, Palmer suddenly exclaimed : " ril give you a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for every- thing you have, except your wife, babies, and household furniture. " Done," replied the other. The bargain was carried out, a small amount was paid down, and the inevitable bond and mortgage were given to secure the remainder. This princely purchaser spent some of his later years in the poor-house, and died not long since in an insane asylum. But Benjamin Rathbun was unquestionably the great man of Buffalo, in those halcyon days. Plaving begun as a hotel-keeper previous to 1825, he had eminently succeeded in that vocation, and had made the name of "Rathbun's Eagle" synonymous with comfort and good cheer. When the flush times came on he plunged into business and speculation, with a boldness and an apparent success which made him the envy of thousands. He built the American hotel. He built and managed a grand store on the east side of Main street. He entered into contracts of every description, and gave em- ployment to thousands of workmen. He bought and sold land, not only in Buftalo but throughout this whole section of the country. His ideas were of the grandest kind. He laid the foundation of an immense hotel and exchange, opposite "the churches," which was designed to occupy the whole square between Main, North Division, South Division and Washington streets. The rotunda was to be two hundred and si.xty feet high! 408 BENJAMIN RATHBUN. Although prices began to drag in the summer of 1836, yet Rathbun still urged forward his gigantic projects. He bought land and laid out a grand city at Niagara Falls, and advertised an auction of lots to come off on the second of August, to ex- tend as many days as might be necessary. On the appointed day a great number of bidders, from all parts of the compass, were present. During the forenoon the bidding was spirited and sales were numerous. At the dinner table Rathbun sat opposite Mr. G. R. Babcock, the junior mem- ber of the law-firm of Potter & Babcock, who, like almost ev-ery- body else, combined the land business with that of their regular profession. "I observed, Mr. Babcock, "said Rathbun, "that you made no bids this forenoon." "No," replied the young man, "the lots sold were not in what I thought the most desirable locality." "Ah, well," said the great speculator, "come with me after dinner and show me some lots you would like to buy, and I will have them put up." Accordingly, after dinner the two strolled out over the ground of the future city, and Rathbun appeared to be in the best of spirits. He chatted, laughed, told stories, discoursed of his plans, and seemed to look forward to a future as prosperous as his past was supposed to have been. As they returned to the hotel, Mr. Babcock observed a car- riage at the door. Some one called to Mr. Rathbun to " hurry up." He did so, entered the carriage with one or two others, and drove off toward Buffalo. Yet, while he was thus jesting with his companion and talking of his future achievements, he knew that his forgeries to a large amount had been discovered, that the country was flooded with his forged paper, and that the gentlemen with whom he rode off had got everything arranged for him to make an assignment of all his property. On his arrival at Buffalo he was arrested. The forgeries had been discovered in Philadelphia by David E. Evans, whose name Rathbun had forged as endorser on notes to a large amount, which he had deposited as security in a bank in that city. Returning to Buffalo, Evans confronted Rathbun, who MODE OF FORGERY. 409 confessed that this was but a tithe of the spurious paper he had set afloat. An assignment was arranged, but in the meantime Rathbun allowed the sale at the Falls to take place, and kept up appearances to the very last. The arrest of Rathbun hastened, so far as Buffalo and vicin- ity was concerned, the financial catastrophe impending over the whole country. Work was stopped on all his numerous enter- prises. The workmen clamored for their pay, and almost broke out into mob violence. The assignees paid them off, though it required nearly all the assets of the estate. The millionaires of the day turned pale with consternation. If Rathbun had failed, who was safe.'' His forgeries amounted to enormous sums. It was found that he had been committing them for several years, taking up the old notes as they became due, with money ob- tained by means of new ones, also forged. His brother. Colonel Lyman Rathbun, and his nephew, Rath- bun Allen, were implicated with him, and the latter turned State's evidence. He was the one who actually wrote the forged names, under the direction of his uncle. The method of oper- ation was as follows : First, they obtained the actual signature of some responsible man, as an endorser for a small amount. A small lamp was then placed in a common candle-box, over which was laid a large window-glass. On this glass was placed the note havuig the genuine signature, with another for a large amount on top of it. The strong light from below, shining through the thin paper used for notes, brought the lower signa- ture into plain view, and the forger was thus enabled to follow it closely on the paper above. An expert would perhaps have detected the difference, but to the ordinary observer the simili- tude seemed complete. These facts, however, did not all come out till the next sum- mer, when Benjamin Rathbun was brought to trial at Batavia, convicted, and sent to the State prison for five years. He served his time, and afterwards regained some of his former prosperity, at his old business of hotel-keeping, in New York city. Amid the general dismay, the Presidential election probably drew less attention than any other that ever occurred in the county. While Van Buren was elected President, and Marcy 27 4IO POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL. governor, Erie county as usual went heavily for the opposition, which had now assumed the name of the Whig party through- out the country. Anti-masonry had ceased to exist as a polit- ical organization, or as a source of present excitement, but its results were seen in the large Whig majorities which Western New York gave throughout the existence of that party. Ma- sonry, too, was utterly extinct in this section, and any attempt to revive it at that time would undoubtedly have caused a re- newal of the old excitement. Millard Fillmore, after his two years retirement, was again elected to Congress. The increase of population shown, by the census of 1835, entitled Krie county to three members of assembly, the persons chosen being Squire S. Case of Buffalo, Benjamin O. Bivins of Clarence, and Dr. Elisha Smith, who had for seven years been supervisor of Ham- burg. George P. Barker was appointed district-attorney, and Samuel Caldwell surrogate. Judge Samuel Wilkeson was chosen mayor of Buffalo. The following is a full list of the supervisors for the year : Alden, Moses Case; Amherst, John Hutchinson; Aurora, Law- rence J. Woodruff; Buffalo, James L. Barton ; Boston, Thomas Twining, Jr.; Collins, Ralph Plumb; Concord, Oliver Needham; Colden, William Lewis ; Evans, Aaron Salisbury ; Eden, Har- vey Caryl; Hamburg, Elisha Smith; Clarence, Levi H. Good- rich ; Holland, Isaac Humphrey ; Lancaster, Albert E. Terry ; Sardinia, Matthew R. Olin ; Wales, Nathan M. Mann. Tonawanda is not represented in the above list, though that town was formed from Buffalo April i6th, 1836, comprising the present towns of Tonawanda and Grand Island. The year closed in gloom and anxiety, though the depression had not yet reached its lowest point. Nevertheless, it was dur- ing this year that the first railroad was completed in Erie county, that from Buffalo to Niagara P'alls. Steadily prices went down, down, down, all through 1837. Throughout the country, failure, bankruptcy and disaster were the order of the day. As .speculation had probably reached its climax in Buffalo, so there the universal reaction was most strongly felt. P'ortunes disappeared almost in a night. Mort- gages were foreclosed on every hand, and property which but yes- terday had been sold for thirty, forty, fifty dollars per foot would THE HOLLAND COMPANY. 4I I now hardly bring as many per acre. Banks failed everywhere, and the wretched paper money of the country became more w^orthless than before. Even in the country towns the reaction, though of course less than in the city, produced great distress, and some who had deemed themselves rich suffered for the necessaries of life. In the course of 1837, matters probably got about as bad as they could be, so that after that they did not grow any worse ; but it was several years before there was any sensible recovery from the " Hard Times," as that era was universally called. Unquestionably the designation was a correct one ; for never has the country, and especially this part of it, known so disas- trous a financial crisis. The "hard times " inaugurated in the fall of 1873 were mere child's play in comparison. Even before the crash there had been a steadily growing op- position to the Holland Company, throughout the Holland Pur- chase, and an increasing desire, on the part of the possessors of lands not paid for, to lighten what they felt to be an intolerable burden, the long arrears of interest then due. When to these was added the weight of universal hard times, the di.scontent rose to still greater heights. Meetings were held in many towns, denouncing the company, demanding a modification of terms, requesting the legislature to interfere, and asking the attorney-general to contest the com- pany's title. In February, 1837, there assembled at Aurora a meeting at which the counties of Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Chautauqua were represented, and which boldly assumed the name of an " Agrarian Convention." Dyre Tillinghast, of Buf- falo, was president ; Charles Richardson, of Java, Genesee county, (now Wyoming,) and Hawxhurst Addington, of Aurora, were vice-presidents ; and A. M. Clapp, of Aurora, and H. N. A. Holmes, of Wales, were secretaries. Resolutions were passed .denouncing the " Judases " who sided with the company, and requesting the attorney-general to contest its title. In some localities the people did not confine themselves to reso- lutions. Without any very decided acts of violence, they made every agent of the company who came among them feel that there was danger in the air. Whenever an attempt was made to take possession of a place of which its holder was in arrears, 412 A GERMAN NEWSPAPER. armed men gathered on the hillsides, threatening notices were sent, and a state of terror was kept up until the company's rep- resentatives became demorahzed and abandoned the field. There was no chance for contesting the company's original title, and the legislature refused to interfere. In most of the towns the settlers, in the course of many weary years, paid up and took deeds of their lands. In a few localities, however, they made so stubborn a resistance, and the company was so long in enforcing its claims, that many of the occupants acquired a title by " adverse possession," which the courts sustained. By 1837 the German population had increased so that it would support a German newspaper, and, notwithstanding the hard times, a weekly was established by George Zahm, called " Der Weltbiirger," It still exists as the "Buffalo Demokrat und Weltbiirger." Notwithstanding the "hard times," a company was chartered to build a macadam road from Buffalo to Williamsville, and ac- tually did build it within a year or two afterwards. This was nearly, or quite, the first successful attempt to replace one of our time-honored mud roads by a track passable at all seasons. The supervisors of 1837 were Moses Case of Alden, John Hutchinson of Amherst, Lawrence J. Woodruff of Aurora, James L. Barton of Buffalo, Amos Wright of Clarence, Oliver Need- ham of Concord, William Lewis of Colden, Harvey Caryl of Eden, Aaron Salisbury of Evans, Isaac Humphrey of Holland, John Boyer of Lancaster, Cyrus Hopkins of Newstead, Mat- thew R. Olin of Sardinia, W^illiam Williams of Tonawanda, and Nathan M. Mann of Wales. In the fall of that year William A. Mosely, of Buffalo, was elected State senator in place of Albert H. Tracy, who then finally retired from public life, at the early age of forty-four, after a twenty-years career of remarkable brilliancy. The as- semblymen then chosen were Lewis F. Allen of Buffalo, Cyre- nius Wilber, of Alden and Asa Warren of Eden. At the same time Charles P. Person, of Aurora, was elected sheriff, and Cy- rus K. Anderson, of Buffalo, county clerk. James Stryker was appointed first judge of the Common Pleas, and Henry W. Rogers district-attorney. Josiah Trowbridge was mayor of Buffalo. OUTBREAKS IN CANADA. 413 CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PATRIOT WAR, ETC. Outbreaks in Canada. — American .Sympathy. — Navy Island. — The Destruction of the Caroline. — Intense Excitement. — Conflicting Rumors. — The Militia Called Out. — Arrival of Scott. — Scott and the British Schooners. — Navy Is- land Abantloned. — Stealing Cannon. — Expedition up the Lake. — Worth and the Volunteers. — A Mild Winter. — Encampment on the Ice. — A Hemlock Track to Canada. — Chapin's Death. — A Raid by Sympathizers. — The Last Camp. — Bufifalo Public Schools. — A Political Revulsion. — An Unsavory Treaty. — Cheektowaga. — Brant. — Black Rock. — Many-term Supervisors. — The Harrison Campaign. As the winter of 1837-8 approached, the people of Erie county, with those of the rest of the northern frontier, were at least fur- nished with something else than their own misfortunes to talk about. For sev^eral years there had been a growing discontent in the Canadian provinces with the government of Great Britain. Among the French population of Lower Canada it was quite strong, and at length it broke out in armed rebellion, which was only suppressed at considerable cost of blood and treasure. After the outbi"eak there was put down, there were some small uprisings in Upper Canada. But, whatever political opposition there might have been in that section to the home government, there was little disposition to seek the arbitrament of battle, and very few appeared in arms. What there were sought a position close to the American line in order that they might receive all possible aid from their sym- pathizers on this side. For it was impossible that anything in the shape of a revolt against British power, whatever the cause, or whatever its strength, should not awaken interest and sym- pathy on the part of Americans. The two contests in which we had been engaged with that country, and the fact that we owed our national existence to a successful revolt against monarchical government, combined to produce such a result. Secret lodges of "hunters," as they were called, were formed along 414 OCCUPATION OF XAVV ISLAND. the frontier for the purpose of affording aid to the "patriots," which was the designation generally given to the insurgents, and some armed men crossed the Hne. WiUiam Lyon Mackenzie, an ex-member of the provincial parliament, and the leader of the rebellion in Upper Canada, after a slight and unsuccessful outbreak north of Toronto, fled to Buffalo in the forepart of December, 1837. Meetings were held, and addresses made by Mackenzie, by one T. J. Suther- land, who was called general, and by several Buffalonians. About the middle of the month there was still greater excitement along the Niagara frontier, for it was learned that the main force of the " patriots " had established themselves on Navy island. This was closer to American territory than any other British soil in this vicinity. Between it and Grand Island the channel is less than a quarter of a mile wide, and it was besides convenient of access from the old laniding-place at Schlosser. There were perhaps three or four hundred men on the island. Of these a considerable proportion were Americans, and their commander was General Rensselaer Van Rensselaer, who, I am informed, was a son of the gallant Colonel Solomon Van Rens- selaer, who was wounded on Oueenston Heights. Days passed on. The people were all in a fever to do some- thing for the " patriots." The United States marshal appointed thirty deputies from among the most prominent citizens of Buf- falo, to prevent violations of neutrality. The winter was one of unexampled mildness, and vessels still continued to run on both lake and river. On the 29th of December the little steamer Caroline, belonging to William Wells, Esq., of Buffalo, went down to Navy island, the intention being that she should run back and forth between the camp of the insurgents and Schlos- ser, carrying men and supplies. After discharging freight at the island, she made two trips to and from Schlosser, that after- noon, and then tied to the wharf at the latter place. Karly the next morning hurrying messengers reached Buffalo with the news that a l^ritish force had crossed the river, cut out the Caroline, killed fifteen or twent)' men, and then set her on fire and sent her over the Falls. As may be imagined, the excitement was intense. Rumors of every kind flew about the streets. The British had invaded DESTRUCTION OF THE CAROLINE. 415 Grand Island. They had threatened to attack Buffalo. They had killed everybody on board the Caroline and some on shore — etc., etc. Further news, while it refuted some of these stories, confirmed the main statement. The Caroline had certainly been cut loose from the Schlosser wharf by a British force, set on fire, and sent over the Falls. A man named Durfee was found dead on the wharf the morn- ing after the attack, shot through the brain. His body was brought to Buffalo and buried, the funeral being attended by a vast and excited crowd, after which a speech of extraordinary eloquence and power was made in the park by that fiery young advocate, Henry K. Smith. For a long time it was asserted that from ten to twenty men had been slaughtered on board the Car- oline, and even the English official report stated that five or six had been killed. But after thorough investigation it w^as found that no one was slain except Durfee, though two or three others were wounded. It soon transpired that the assailing expedition was sent over by Sir Allan McNab, commanding the British forces on the frontier, under an officer of the royal navy, whose proceedings were fully endorsed by Sir Allan, and by the governor-general of Canada. It was as clear a violation of American sovereignty as it would have been of English sovereignty if a successful blockade-runner, during the rebellion, had been attacked and burned in an English port by an American man-of-war. But there was some palliation in the fact that so many of the insur- gents were Americans, and Mr. Van Buren, who was then Pres- ident, was a very pacific personage. So, notwithstanding a long diplomatic contest, no redress was ever obtained. Sir Allan McNab claimed that the Caroline had been bought by the Navy-islanders. This, however, was denied under oath by Mr. Wells, and the denial was undoubtedly true; for the whole treasury of the " patriots " would have been hardly suffi- cient to buy a canoe. The officers and crew of the Caroline numbered ten men, and twenty-five more went on board at Schlosser, on account, as was alleged, of the lack of hotel-accommodations at that place, but probably for the purpose of crossing to Navy island the next morning. It was stoutly asserted that none of the crew or 4l6 SCOTT ON THE FRONTIER. passengers were armed, but as three of the attacking party were wounded, this looks improbable. It was claimed by some that they wounded each other in the darkness. Over these, and a hundred other controverted points, the Buf- falo Daily Star and the Daily Commercial long kept up a heated controversy, the former accusing the latter of being in the inter- est of the ])ritish, and opposed to the patriots who were striv- ing to throw off the yoke of a foreign tyranny, etc., etc., while the Commercial retaliated by charging the Star with abetting unlawful operations, fomenting war, etc., etc. Meanwhile, the American authorities were taking vigorous measures both to prevent armed expeditions from going from this side, and to repel further invasion from the other. A com- pany was organized in Buffalo, called the City Guard, under Captain James McKay. By order of Gov. Marcy, Gen. David Burt called out the 47th brigade of militia, (infantry,) the larger part of whom responded, and rendezvoused at Buffalo. Ran- dall's brigade of artillery was also called out, and all its com- panies marched to the same point. The 47th brigade of infantry vv^as entirely from Erie county, and every town furnished its quota. Among the officers were Col. Orange T. Brown, of Aurora, and Col. Harry B. Ransom, of Clarence. Randall's brigade of artillery covered a much larger district. On the 5th of January, 1838, the President issued a proclama- tion, and sent Gen. Scott to the frontier. He was accompanied by Col. William J. Worth, as aide and chief of staff. Scarcely had he arrived, when rumors came that the British were about to cross and attack Schlosser. The troops, regulars and militia, were ordered out and marched to that point. No attack took place and they returned. A day or two afterwards it was reported that three ICnglish armed schooners, lying opposite Lower Black Rock, were about to fire on the steamer Barcelona, which was plying between Buf- falo and Navy island. To Lower Black Rock the troops were accordingly marched, and there, sure enough, were seen the three British schooners, lying nearly in line, awaiting the Barcelona, one of them being in American waters and not far from the shore. Scott formed his infantry along the bank, and po.sted his artillery on the high ground in the rear. Then the veteran THE INSURGENTS DISPERSE. 417 general rode down to the water's edge, hailed the nearest schooner, and ordered her to draw out of American waters, and not to molest the Barcelona, which could then be seen steaming up the river, close along the American shore. After some hesi- tation, the schooner lifted her anchor and drew off across the line, and the Barcelona passed safely by. But the "revolution" could not be kept up much longer. The British regulars and Canadian militia concentrated opposite Navy island, fiercely cannonaded the forest which covered it, and prepared to cross the channel. Rensselaer Van Rensselaer was brave enough, but his exchequer was low, his followers few, and the hope of reinforcements cut off by the vigilance of Scott. So, on the 15th of January, his army fled to the American main- land and dispersed in every direction. Their stolen cannon they gave up to the State authorities. Soon after, however, another attempt was made to furnish the disorganized "patriot" army with artillery. Five of these same cannon were in charge of a body of militia, at Tonawanda, under Colonel Harry B. Ransom. To him came a squad of men, whose acting commandant presented an order for the de- livery of the five guns, signed by Winfield Scott, major-general commanding. Ransom hesitated, but a prominent citizen came forward, declared that he knew Scott's handwriting, and that the signature was genuine. So the cannon were delivered — on a forged order. But the "patriots" were obliged to scatter for fear of the United States marshal, and the guns were again recov- ered by the State. Meanwhile Brigadier-General Thomas Jefferson Sutherland had gone to the other end of Lake Erie, gathered a few men, and begun issuing proclamations preparatory to an invasion of Canada across the Detroit river. A body of United States regulars was forthwith sent to put a stop to unlawful proceed- ings in that quarter. It was desired to send with them a small detachment of militia as far as Erie, Pa., to watch move- ments there. Twenty volunteers w^ere called for, and twenty men responded from the Aurora company, commanded by Captain Almon M. Clapp, then editor of the Aurora Standard. The regulars and Captain Clapp's detachment went up the lake under the command of Colonel Worth, on the steamboat 41 8 WORTH AND THK VOLUNTEERS. Robert Fulton. An incident which occurred on the steamer illustrates the character of that gallant officer. Soon after leav- ing Buffiilo, the regular commissary brought the rations for both regulars and volunteers, and flung them down on the l(M\er deck. The volunteers demurred. They said they were not used to taking their victuals off from the floor, and did not propose to begin then. The commissary roughly told them they might go without. Tliey made known their dissatisfaction to Captain Clapp, who was in the cabin with the regular officers. He at once appealed to Colonel Worth, declaring that his men were accustomed to as decent treatment as himself, and did not relish such conduct. " Certainly not, certainly not," said Worth ; " bring your men into the cabin here and let them have their breakfast." So the cooks were set at work, and in a short time the squad of volunteers sat down to an excellent breakfast, and did not have to take it off from the deck, either. Stopping at Dunkirk, the troops went to Fredonia, took two or three hundred stand of arms, stored there by the "patriots," and proceeded by steamer to Erie. A vessel on Lake Erie in January is a sight seldom seen, and the presence of one in the first month of 1838, marks the mildest winter of which there is any record as visiting this county since its settlement. When- ever, during the past winter of 1875-6, reference has been made to the weather as the mildest ever known, if any elderly resident were present, he generally answered: "Not quite; the winter of the patriot war was warmer than this." The lake was certainly open much longer than in 1875-6. But when the Fulton reached Eric the ice was rapidly forming, .so that it was difficult to enter the harbor, and the planking of the boat was badly injured by it. The volunteers remained there eleven days and returned by land. By this time it was thought the danger of trouble in this vi- cinity was nearly over, and Burt's infantry and Randall's artil- lery were both .discharged. The Buffalo City Guard, however, had much increased in number, and was organized into a regi- ment ; the first regiment of uniformed militia in the city. James McKay was colonel. Dr. Johnson lieutenant-colonel, and George P. Barker major. PATRIOTISM ON ICE. 419 The ice rapidly closed over the whole lake, and this circum- stance was taken advantage of by bands of sympathizers to project another invasion of Canada. A company of the Buffalo City Guard and Clapp's volunteers were sent, one cold winter night, in sleighs, to the "head of the turnpike," in Hamburg, and thence three or four miles on the ice, toward the middle of the lake. There they found a most remarkable scene. Thirty or forty men had established themselves there on the ice, built shanties, procured a plentiful allowance of hemlock boughs to sleep on, and were awaiting reinforcements to liberate Canada ! They readily surrendered on the appearance of the troops. Only a part of them had fire-arms, but there were a large num- ber of rude pikes, each consisting of a strong pole with a spear several inches long, and a hook of proportionate size. The shanties were torn down, the arms seized and the would-be heroes dispersed. One part of their preparations was peculiar enough to deserve especial mention. Extending from their camp, in a straight line, nearly to the Canada shore, was a row of hemlock bushes, waving over the vast field of ice. It was intended that the liberating army should march over in the night. But if they did so there was danger that in the middle of the lake, with an unbroken plain of ice extending in every direction, they might lose their way and perhaps perish with the cold. For the part of the shore where they intended to land was uninhabited, and there woLtld be no lights to steer by. So they put up that line of hemlock boughs to guide them on their conquering way, making holes in the ice with their pikes, planting the bushes, and pour- ing on water, which soon froze solic^ around them. Old Dr. Chapin had been prominent during the winter, making speeches at the meetings of the sympathizers, and feeling all his youthful fires revive at the prospect of another war with England. But his waning powers were unable to keep pace with his feel- ings, and in February he sickened and died. He was buried on Washington's birthday with military honors, his funeral being attended by a vast crowd from whom, despite his failings, he had long been a subject of respectful attention as one of the founders of the city. While some of the people, organized in militia companies. 420 END OF THE PATRIOT WAR. were faithfully at work to prev^cnt the violation of the neutrality laws, their friends and neighbors were willing to run a good deal of risk to aid the insurgents. One of the companies of Randall's artillery-brigade, belonging in Allegany county, had returned home by way of Aurora and Holland, but, owing to the badness of the roads, had been obliged to leave one of their pieces at the latter place. It was stored in a barn to await better traveling. Some of the sympathizers at Aurora determined to secure it for the use of a body of liberators, who were expected to make an- other effort to cross the lake on the ice. Accordingly, the first sleighing that came, two good teams were hitched to sleighs, which, with several men in each, started just after nightfall for Holland. Passing rapidly over the intervening ten miles, they arrived at that village, drove to the barn where the cannon was kept, loaded it into one of the sleighs, put the caisson into the other, and had the horses going down the creek-road at full speed ere any one else knew what was going on. It is not likely, however, that any one would have interfered, even if they had known, for the feeling of friendship for the insurgents was so general that (ew cared to oppose it, save when compelled by official duty. The stolen gun was forwarded through Hamburg to the lake shore. Getting possession of another piece of artillery, the "patriots" assembled to the number of three or four hundred near Com- stock's tavern, in Hamburg. But on the 24th of February a detachment of regulars and volunteers, and the crew of a revenue cutter, all under the command of Col. Worth, who had returned from the West, marched out from Buffalo, surprised the camp of the four hundred "patriots," dispersed them, and captured their cannon. This was the last serious attempt to invade Canada from within the borders of Erie county. Rumors of fighting, however, continued to come from the vi- cinity of Detroit, but the battles turned out to be of the most trivial character. By the 6th of March even these rumors ceased, and that was the end of the " Patriot War." A (t\v of the vol- unteer militia, however, were kept in service for three months, and then returned home. Then there was nothing for the people to think of except the universal depression of business throughout the country. P^or BUFFALO SCHOOLS. 42 I this, as is not unfrcqucntly the case, they blamed the administra- tion and the party in power, and already murmurs, deep and far- extending, foreboded their temporary overthrow. There was no need of such aid to the Whigs of Erie county, as they already had an overwhelming majority, but even that majority was doubtless increased by the prevailing discontent. The supervisors elected in the spring were nearly every man of that party, being as follows : Josiah Fullerton of Alden, Ja- cob Hershey of Amherst, Joseph S. Bartlett of Aurora, Joseph Clary of Buffalo, Thomas Durboraw of Clarence, Enoch N. Fay of Concord, Leander J. Roberts of Colden, Ralph Plumb of Collins, Levi Bunting of Eden, Aaron Salisbury of Evans, Eli- sha Smith of Hamburg, Moses McArthur of Holland, Milton McNeal of Lancaster, John Rogers of Newstead, Elihu Rice of Sardinia, William Williams of Tonawanda, and Elon Virgil of Wales. Ebenezer Walden was mayor of Buffalo that year. It was during this period, while war seemed imminent, and the country was overwhelmed by financial troubles, that the school system of Buffalo was reorganized. Before that, there had been no public schools there, except district schools, which were un- suited to a city, and were attended only by the children of the poorer classes. But the financial crash of 1837 brought a great many people under that designation. Most of the private insti- tutions went down. The people turned perforce to their long- neglected public schools. After one or two attempts, a satisfac- tory law was passed in the forepart of 1838, reorganizing the whole school-system of the city, on very nearly the same plan which is still maintained. Oliver G. Steele had been appointed superintendent, and he and N. K. Hall originated the law. It devolved on Mr. Steele to put the improved system into practical operation. Its principal features were large schools, divided into departments, thorough supervision by the superin- tendent, and substantially free admission to all children residing in the city. The schools were soon made entirely free, and a central high-school, established a few years later, completed the frame-work of the system. There was great interest manifested in the subject in the summer of 1838, numerous meetings were held, and, notwithstanding much opposition, the people gener- 422 EFFORTS TO BUY THE RESERVATIONS. ally sustained the new plan. Albert H. Tracy, N. K. Hall, Ho- ratio Shumway and Mr. Steele were especially warm in its advo- cacy, and prompt in suggesting needed improvements. In the summer of 1839 '''o I'^^s than six large, new school-houses were built under Mr. Steele's supervision, competent teachers were emplo)'cd, and since that time the schools of Buffalo ha\'e been maintained in a condition of efficiency probably not surpassed in the State. In the fall of 1838 the popular discontent made itself plainly visible in numerous State elections throughout the country. Governor Marcy in this State being defeated by William H. Seward, who became the first Whig governor of New York. Millard Fillmore, who had entered public life at the same time with Mr. Seward, was for the third time elected member of Con- gress from the 30th congressional district. The assemblymen chosen that fall were Jacob A. Barker, of Buffalo, Henry John- son, of Lancaster, and the Boston pioneer and soldier, Truman Gary. The year 1838 was also marked by a most strenuous attempt to obtain possession of all the Indian lands in this county, as well as elsewhere in Western New York. A treaty was sanc- tioned by the executive department of the government, by which the government agreed to give the New York Indians 1,820,000 acres of land in Kansas, and build mills, shops, churches, schools, etc. A council of chiefs was called at the council-house on the Buffalo Greek reservation, in January, 1838. The treaty was laid before them, and also a deed by which they agreed to cede to the Ogden Gompany all their reservations, for two hundred and two thousand dollars; a hundred thousand for the land, and a hundred and two thousand for the improvements. It received forty-five signatures of chiefs, either actual or claimed, for it was always difficult to tell who were and who were not chiefs. The treaty was sent to the senate, who amended it by strik- ing out the various appropriations for milLs, schools, etc., and inserting the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Gil- lett. United States commissioner, again called the chiefs to- gether, and insisted that the deed was good, even if the treaty was not ratified. General Dearborn, commissioner for Massa- chusetts, declared it was not. The treaty, as amended, was NEW TOWNS. 423 signed by sixteen chiefs, and a remonstrance by sixty-three. By some means twenty-six more names were obtained, some say by bribing- the chiefs or getting them drunk. But, after all efforts were, used there were only forty-one signatures out of all the ninety-seven claimed by both parties as chiefs, while of the .seventy-five undisputed chiefs but twenty-nine were signers. It afterwards transpired that written contracts had been entered into by which the agents of the Ogden Company agreed to pay certain chiefs considerable sums of money, besides giving them life-leases of their improvements, on condition of their doing their best to help forward the treaty and sale. These payments were to be in addition to the pay for improvements which those chiefs would receive in common with their brethren, and could only be looked on as bribes. Nothwithstanding the defective number of signatures, and the means used to obtain them, the treaty was ratified by the senate. Yet the facts brought to light caused so much popular feeling, and the determination of the Indians was so strong not to go west, that the company was un- willing to proceed to extremities, and did not attempt to remove them. The manner in which the difficulty was finally settled will be described further on. In March, 1839, three new towns were created. On the 22d of that month the south part of Amherst was cut off and called Cheektowaga, a modification of the Indian name Jiikdowaageh, meaning "the place of the crab-apple tree." It is said to have been so named on the suggestion of Alex. Hi.chcock. Amherst was the last of the very large towns of Erie county. Before its division it w^as eighteen miles long, besides the part on the res- ervation. Afterwards, there was no town over eleven miles in length. Cheektowaga was already largely inhabited by Germans, and since then it has been more completely occupied by them than any other town in the county. Curiously enough, consid- ering their habit of living in villages in their native country, they dwelt and dwell entirely separate in this town. There was not, and is not, even the smallest of hamlets within its borders. Yet the soil is probably as fertile as any in the county, and it is cultivated like a garden. Doubtless its nearness to the city pre- vents the growth of villages. At the time of its erection it had 424 BRANT AND BLACK ROCK. not even a post-office. It was organized the same year, and Alexander Hitchcock was elected its first supervisor. On the 25th of March the town of Brant was formed by the legislature out of the south part of Evans, and a part of the Cat- taraugus reservation, nominally belonging to Collins. It included the " mile-strip " and " mile-block " sold off from that reservation in 1826. It was doubtless expected, when the town was formed, that the sale of the whole reservation would soon be consum- mated, in accordance with the " treaty" of 1838, and that Brant would thereby become a town of the ordinary size. This ex- pectation, however, was disappointed and the space outside of Indian teritory is smaller than in any other town in the county. What business there was in the town soon began to be attracted to Brant Center, where a small hamlet grew up. Brant was duly organized, and Jonathan Hascall, Jr., was elected its first supervisor. The same spring, all that part of the town of Buffalo outside of the city was formed into the town of Black Rock. It ex- tended clear around the city from Black Rock village to the lake shore. Col. William A. Bird was elected its first supervisor. About the same time a law was passed allowing Buffalo a super- visor for each of her five wards, but I have been unable to find a full record of the persons elected, for several years afterwards. The county legislators, so far as known, for the two last years of that decade, were as follows — where but one name and no year is given, the person mentioned held both years : Alden, Josiah FuUerton ; Amherst, J^cob Hershey and Timothy A. Hopkins; Aurora, Thomas Thurston; Boston, Epaphras Steele; Buffalo, (for 1839 only,) 1st ward. Miles Jones; 2d, Emanuel Ruden ; 3d, Henry Root ; 4th, John D. Harty ; 5th, Nathaniel Vosburg ; Black Rock, W^illiam A. Bird ; Brant, Jonathan Has- call, Jr, ; Clarence, Thomas Durboraw ; . Cheektowaga, Alexan- der Hitchcock; Colden, Leander J. Roberts; Collin.s, Ralph Plumb; Concord, Enoch N. Fay; Eden, Levi Bunting; Evans, Sayles Aldrich ; Hamburg, Elisha Smith ; Holland, Moses McArthur; Lancaster, Milton McNeal ; Newstead, Hezekiah Cummings ; Sardinia, George Bigelow and Bela H. Colcgrove ; Tonawanda, Jedediah II. Lathrop and Theron W. Woolson ; Wales, Elon Virgil. POPULAR SUPERVISORS. 425 Hiram Pratt was again chosen mayor of Bufifalo, in 1839, by the common council. The next winter a law was passed that the mayor should be elected directly by the people ; Sheldon Thompson was thus elected in 1840. It will be seen that, with three exceptions, the supervisors of all the country towns were elected both years, and many of them had already been in service for several years before, and remained so several years afterwards. In fact, it may be said that, as a general rule, supervisors were kept in office a much longer time than in these later days. Dr. Elisha Smith was elected super- visor of Hamburg twelve years in succession (from 1830 to 1841,- inclusive). Nathaniel Knight was chosen supervisor of Collins nine years in succession (1824 to '32, inclusive). Imme- diately after him Ralph Plumb was elected to the same office eleven consecutive years (1833 to '43, inclusive). So that for twenty-four years there were but two supervisors of Collins. After an interval. Plumb was again chosen for two terms. For fourteen years, (1838 to '51, inclusive,) Thomas Durboraw, Orsa- mus Warren and Archibald Thompson held the supervisorship of Clarence, alternating almost regularly during the time, though Durboraw was the most favored, holding it six of those yeans. One of the most decided cases of official long life was that of Moses McArthur, who was supervisor of Holland for fourteen years, after having previously held the same position in Wales for two years. His terms, however, were not in regular suc- cession, but extended from 1833 to 185 1. There were several intervals filled by some one else, but every time the people fell back on Moses McArthur. Jonathan Hascall, Jr., whose elec- tion as first supervisor of Brant I have just mentioned, also had a career of remarkable official longevity. He had been super- visor of Evans several term.s, and on the organization of Brant he was thirteen times elected its chief officer. So great was his local influence that he was popularly known throughout the county by the name of "King Hascall." In later years only one supervisor has remained in office eight years, and the aver- age time of holding the position has been only about half what it was before 1840. There was little or no change for the better in the financial situation during the last two years of the decade, and the coun- 28 426 "TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO." try grew more and more whiggish. In the fall of 1839, three Whigs, Seth C. Hawle)', of Buffalo, Stephen Osborn, of Clar- ence or Newstead, (the ex-sheriff), and Aaron Salisbury, of Evans, were chosen to represent Erie county in the assembly. The next year came the great excitement of the Harrison campaign. Erie county was one of the greatest strongholds of whiggery in the United States, and probably developed more than the average amount of the enthusiasm then so prevalent. Nowhere were there more log cabins erected, more hard cider drank, or more coon skins displayed, and nowhere were there louder shouts for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." When election day came the Harrison electoral ticket received nearly two to one in this county, and was triumphantly elected in the nation. Henry W. Seymour was the Presidential elector for this district. Eor the fourth time Millard Fillmore was chosen as represent- ative in Congress, that being one term longer than any other member from Erie county has ever held that office. Lorenzo Brown was elected sheriff, and Noah P. Sprague county clerk. The assemblymen chosen were Seth C. Hawley and Stephen Osborn, reelected, and Dr. Carlos Emmons, of Springville. The general depression is shown by the fact that the popula- tion of Buffalo in 1840 had only increased a fraction less than ten per cent, over that of 1835, having reached the number of 18,213. The population of the whole county was 62,465, an in- crease of ten and a fifth per cent, over 1835. This is the only instance of the county's increasing faster than the city. In 1839 '^ 'ic^^' court of record was established in Buffalo, for the benefit of city litigants, the judge of which was called the recorder. Horatio J. Stow was appointed the first recorder, holding his office for four years. In 1840 a very important business was started at Akron. A Mr. Delano opened a quarry of water-limestone, and began to prepare the lime for market. There had previously been some small works established at Williamsville, but the Akron water- lime soon took the lead, and its manufacture has ever since been increasing in importance. The small village, existing at that point in 1 840, rapidly increased under the stimulus of the new industry, and has ever since steadily kept pace with it. MODERN TIMES. 427 CHAPTER XXXVII. 1841 TO 1845. The Historic Period Passing Away. — New Treaty with the Indians. — The Tona- wanda Reservation Given to them in Fee. — They Surrender the Buffalo Creek Reservation. — Its Occupation by the Whites. — Senators, Assemblymen, etc. — .Supervisors. — The Bar of T.rie County. — A Brilliant Galaxy. We have now reached a period within the memory of thou- sands of not very aged persons, throughout the county. More- over, the events and circumstances of historic interest have nearly all been passed in review. After describing the hardships of pioneer life, the stirring scenes of border war, the construction of vast public works, and the general growth of the county from a state of nature to that of a civilized community, it would be alike tedious and impracticable to recount with equal par- ticularity the routine life of contemporary existence. The re- maining portion of the county's history will therefore be more rapidly passed over. It will not be practicable to note the building of churches, and similar minor events, but I will en- deavor to make mention of all facts of especial prominence. During the period under consideration in this chapter, the county was slowly recovering from the terrible financial crisis heretofore described. It was not till near 1845 that it could be considered to have fully regained a healthy condition, by which time moderate prosperity was the rule throughout its borders, as distinguished from the feverish fortune-making of ten years before. The emigration from Germany steadily continued, and in 1841 the men of culture of that nationality, in Buffalo, es- tablished the German Young Men's Association, which has ever since remained the nucleus of German literary culture in that city. In 1842, the Buffalo and Attica railroad was completed, giving the former place its first railroad connection with the East. Travel westward was still by boat in summer, and by stage in winter. This was a grand time for Buffalo hotels. Every traveler had 428 BUFFALO CREEK RESERVATION. to sta)' in town at least one meal, generally over night, and fre- quently, in spring and fall, for sex'eral days. So much opposition was made by the Indians to surren- dering their lands, under the deed made by a portion of their chiefs in 1838, and so unsavory were the developments in regard to the manner in which the sanction of those chiefs was obtained, that no attempt was made to take possession of the reserva- tions. In May, 1842, however, a new agreement was made, by which the Ogden Company allowed the Senecas to retain the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations, (subject to the compa- ny's preemption right) and the Indians gave up the Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda tracts, on condition of receiving their proportionate value. That is to say, the value of all four of the reservations was estimated as before at $100,000, and the value of the improvements at $102,000, and the company agreed to pay the proportion of $100,000 which, according to the decision of arbitrators, the possession of the Buffalo Creek and Tona- wanda reservations bore to the possession of the whole, and the proportion of $102,000 which the improvements on those reservations bore to the improvements on the whole. This was satisfactory to the Buffalo Creek Indians, but not to the Tonawandians. Arbitrators duly chosen decided that the proportionate value of the Indian title of those two reservations was $75,000, and that of the improvements on them $59,000. They also awarded the portion of the $59,000 due to each Indian on the Buffalo reservation, but could not do it on the Tonawanda one, because the inhabitants of the latter refused to let them come on the reservation to make an appraisal. After some two years, one of the claimants undertook to expel one of the Tonawanda Indi- ans by force, whereupon he sued them and recovered judgment; the courts deciding that the proper steps had not been taken to justify the claimant's action. Finally, to end the controversy, the United States opened its purse, as it has so often done before and since to help individuals. The government bought the en- tire claim of the Ogden Company to the Tonawanda reserva- tion, and presented it to the Indians residing there. Consequently they now own the "fee-simple" of the land as well as the pos- sessory right. That is, they hold it by the same title by which EDEN AND MARILLA. 429 white men own their lands, except that the fee is in the wliolc tribe, and not in the individual members. Meanwhile the Buffalo Indians quietly received the money allotted to them, and, after a year or two allowed for prepara- tion, they in 1843 and '44 abandoned the home where they had dwelt for over sixty years, and which had been a favorite ren- dezvous of their nation for near two centuries. Most of them joined their brethren on the Cattaraugus reservation, some went to that on the Allegany, and a few removed to lands allotted them in Kansas. The company immediately had the land surveyed and divided among the members, who began selling it. Settlers began to oc- cupy Elma, and that part of Marilla not included in the purchase of 1826. Even before the Indians removed, Zina A. Hemstreet had previously been allowed to establish a saw-mill at the point, long known as Hemstreet's Mills, now generally called East Elma. Soon a log tavern and a few houses were erected on the site of the present village of Spring Brook. Messrs. Hurd and Briggs came to the site of Elma village in 1845, (or possibly in 1846,) and established large saw-mills there. Ten or a dozen Indian families were still occupying their little clearings in that vicinity. "Little Jo.," "Isaac Jonnyjohn " and " Little Jo.'s Boy," were among the appellations of the heads of these ancient houses. In a year or two more most of them went to the Cat- taraugus reservation, and their clearings were occupied by white settlers. New clearings, too, were made here and there, log houses were erected, and all over the reservation the traveler witnessed a reproduction of the scenes of pioneer life. The old towns, it will be remembered, still ran to the center of the reser- vation, so that the newly opened territory belonged to Black Rock, Cheektowaga, Lancaster and Alden, on the north, and to Hamburg, Aurora and Wales on the south. The increase by the settlement of this new territory was but slight during the period under consideration, and the county was but partially recovered from the great downfall of 1837, yet the census of 1845 found us with a population of 78,635, against 62,465 in 1840. Buffalo had 29,773 in 1845, to 18,213 in 1840. Though still strongly Whig, the county was not so overwhelm- ingly so in the previous years. The old anti-masonic feeling was 430 POLITICAL AND JOURNALISTIC. passing away, new settlers of various politics were coming in, even among the Americans, and the immigrants of foreign birth were very largely Democratic. In 1842, Mr. Fillmore declined a reelection to the office which he had so long and so creditably filled. During the last two years of his service he was chairman of the commitce of ways and means, the most important post in the house of rep- resentatives next to that of speaker, and discharged its duties with marked ability and fidelity. The judicial quality of his mind was especially noticed. Said the veteran statesman, John Ouincy Adams, of Mr. Fillmore, in the fall of 1842: "He was one of the ablest, most faithful, and fairest-minded men with whom it has ever been my lot to serve in public life." William A. Moseley was elected to Congress in Mr. F.'s place. In 1844, when Henry Clay was nominated for President by the Whig national convention, Mr. Fillmore's name was pre- sented by the delegates from New York, and from some of the Western States, for the second place on the ticket. Mr. Freling- huyscn was, however, selected, and then the Whigs, with hardly a division, chose Mr. F. as their candidate for governor. The State, however, as well as the nation, went for Polk, and Silas Wright was elected governor. Jonathan Hascall, Jr., of Brant, was the presidential elector from this county. Dr. Carlos Em- mons, of Springvillc, was chosen State senator. By this time that pleasant village — Springville — had become of sufficient importance to sustain a newspaper, and the Spring- ville Express was established ; being published there for four years. In 1845 the Buffalo Daily Express was founded by A. M. Clapp. The Buffalo Daily Telegraph, a German paper, was established the same year, and Dr. Austin Flint founded the Buffalo Medical Journal, a monthly devoted to medical science. In the fall of 1841 the people elected to the assembly Squire S. Case of Buffalo, William A. Bird of Black Rock, and Bela Colegrove of Sardinia. In 1842 they chose George R. Babcock of Buffalo, Wells Brooks of Concord, and Milton McNeal of Lancaster. In 1843 the successful candidates were Daniel Lee of Buffalo, Amos Wright of Clarence, and Pllisha Smith -of Hamburg. In 1844, Daniel Lee was reelected, his associates SUPERVISORS FOR FIVE YEARS. 43 1 being Truman Dewey of Evans, and John T. Bush of Tona- wanda. The next year Mr. Bush was reelected, his colleagues being- Judge Nathan K. Hall of Buffalo, and James Wood, the Wales pioneer. In 1843 Manly Colton, of Buffalo, was elected county clerk, and Ralph Plumb, of Collins, .sheriff. Thomas C. Love, the ex- congressman, was appointed surrogate in 1841, and succeeded by Peter M. Vosburgh, of Aurora, in 1845. Henry W. Rogers was appointed district attorney in i84i,and Solomon G. Haven in 1844. Nathan K. Hall was appointed first judge of the Com- mon Pleas in 1842, but resigned in 1845, being succeeded by Frederick P. Stevens. The mayors of Buffalo for this semi-decade were Isaac R. Harrington in 1841, George W. Clinton in 1842, Joseph G. Masten in 1843 and '45, and William Ketchum in 1844. The records of supervisors for this period are nearly complete, except in the city of Buffalo, where there appears to have been none preserved until 1844. So far as known the list is as follows : Amherst, 1841, 42 and 43, Timothy A. Hopkins ; 1844 and '45, John Hershey. Alden, 1841 and '42, Dexter Ewell ; 1843, '44 and '45, John D. Howe. Aurora, 1841, '42 and '44, Thomas Thurston; 1843, Jonathan Hoyt ; 1845, Hezekiah Moshier. Boston, 1840 and 41, Epaphras Steele; 1842, Ezra Chaftee ; 1843, John Brooks ; 1844, Orrin Lockvvood. Black Rock, 1841 and '45, William A. Bird ; 1842, Alvan Dodge; 1843, Samuel Ely; 1844, Robert McPherson. Brant, 1841, '42, '43 and '44, Jonathan Hascall, Jr. ; 1845, Job Southwick. Buffalo, 1st ward, 1844, Walter S. Hunn, 1845, Charles S. Pierce; 2d ward, 1844 and '45, Noah H. Gardner; 3d ward, 1844 and '45, Henry Daw ; 4th ward, 1844. George W. Clinton, 1845, Dyre Tillinghast ; 5th ward, 1844, John M. Bull, 1845, Francis C. Brunck. Clarence, 1 841, Thomas Durboraw; 1842 and '44, Archibald Thompson ; 1843 and '45, Orsamus Warren. Golden, 1841, '42 and '43, Philo P. Barber; 1844, Samuel B. Love; 1845, Benja- min Maltby. Cheektowaga, 1841, 43 and '44, Alexander Hitch- cock ; 1842, Darius Kingsley ; 1845, James Warner. Collins, 1 841, '42 and '43, Ralph Plumb ; 1844 and '45, John L. Henry. Hamburg, i84i,Elisha Smith ; 1842, Isaac Deuel; 1843, Joseph Foster; 1844, Clark Dart; 1845, Amos Chilcott. Holland. 1841, Samuel Corliss; 1842, '43, '44 and '45, Moses McArthur. Lancaster, 1841, Norman R.Dewey; 1842, '44 and '45, Mil- ton McNeal ; 1843, Elijah M. Safiford. Eden, 1841, '44 and 43- THE ERIE COUNTY BAR. '45, William H. Pratt ; 1842, James Tefift ; 1843, Harvey Caryl. Sardinia. 1841 and '45, Bela H. Colegrove ; 1842 and '44, Fred- erick Richmond; 1843, George Bigelow. Wales, 1841, Ira G. Watson ; 1842, Elon Virgil ; 1843 and '44, Isaac Brayton ; 1845. David S. Warner. These were the halcyon days of the Erie county bar. Un- less all traditions are utterly false, our county, during the period from 1830 to 1850, was distinguished by a galaxy of legal lumi- naries hardly surpassed in the State ; a galaxy which probably reached its greatest brilliancy between 1840 and 1845. The celebrated firm of Fillmore, Hall & Haven had dissolved. and its second member had gone upon the bench, but juries were still occasionally swayed by the persuasive yet candid ad- vocacy of Millard Fillmore, and often delighted by the wit and tact of Solomon G. Haven. Then the old court-house, which has just been torn down, rang with the fiery denunciations of Henry K. Smith, whose dark features and fervid speech re- minded one of the Cuban shore on which he was born. Then a younger orator, of elegant yet commanding presence, lifted up his voice in tones of alternate pathos and scorn, till men from both city and country willingly surrendered their hearts to the eloquence of h^li Cook. Then Thomas T. Sherwood fumed and fretted around the bar, and thundered in somewhat sledge- hammer style, but all the while kept up an excellent understand- ing with the jury, forced his own ideas into them by main -Strength, and carried verdicts by the .score. Mr. S. seems to have been predisposed toward his overwhelming style of con- ducting a case, not only by his temper but his judgment. He believed in pounding. On one occasion the junior counsel in a suit in which he was engaged opened the case to the jury. As he was about to close, Mr. Sherwood got his ear and whispered : " Go over with the case again, and make this point — and this one — and this one." "Why," replied the surprised junior, " I have made all those points already." "Yes, I know," said Sherwood, "but hammer it into them — hammer it into them." And by " hammering it into them," he gained many a case. Of a far different order of mind, deliberate and impressive in speech, logical in intellect, and thoroughly versed in legal lore. GEORGK r. BARKER. 433 was John L. Talcott, one of the few survivors of that brilHant throng. A. H. Tracy seldom appeared in the legal arena, but was recognized as possessing forensic abilities of the highest class. The veteran Potter, the Nestor of the profession, was an au- thority on every thing relating to real estate, and his partner, George R. Babcock, had already attained a prominent position. Henry W. Rogers, who was district-attorney during most of the period in question, ranked high as a learned and successful practitioner, as did also Congressman Moseley, Dyre Tillinghast, Benj. H. Austin and the future judge, Seth E. Sill. The county had not been so fully absorbed into the city as now, and Albert Sawin and Lafayette Carver, of Aurora, Wells Brooks and C. C. Severance, of Springville, and some others, were resorted to by numerous clients. But the bright particular star of the bar of Erie county, the orator on whose lips juries and audiences hung with most intense delight, was George P. Barker. The period of his great brilliancy extended from about 1835 to '45, during the last three years of which time he was State attorney-general, when his health began to decline as he drew toward the close of his brief and brilliant career. Others might have had abetter knowledge of law, more logical methods of argument, or more skill in the management of cases, but none had such wondrous powers of language, none had such control over the feelings of an audience. No matter whether in the court-room or on the political platform, whether in city hall or on back-woods stump, his name never failed to draw a numerous audience, and his voice never failed to charm those whom his name had drawn. Being a radical Democrat, his party was in a hopeless minority in the county and the dis- trict, but he clung to it with unwavering fidelity. Had fortune given power to his political friends, he would doubtless have been chosen to represent them in Congress, and would have been expected to measure lances with the most brilliant pala- dins of debate in the national tournament. 434 RETURN OF PROSPERITY. CHAPTER XXXVIII. 1846 TO 1850. Prosperity. — The University of Buffalo. — The Medical Department. — Hamilton, Flint and White. — The New Constitution. — Officials of the Period. — Mr. Fillmore Nominated for Vice-President. — The Free-Soil Movement. — The Buffalo Convention. — Mr. Fillmore Elected Vice-President. — He Becomes President. — The Compromise Measures. — Mr. Haven Elected to Congress. — Hamburg Divided. — Mayors and Supervisors. — The Ebenezer Society. — German Progress. We now find the subject of this history in a condition of decid- ed prosperity. Money was reasonably plenty, without being so abundant as to cause fears of another crash. After long years of labor, most of the farmers had their land paid for, or so nearly as to be able to see their way through. On all the back roads handsome farm-houses were being erected in place of the log structures of primeval times. New churches sent up their spires in almost every hamlet, and the old log or red frame school- house was frequently replaced b}^ a neat, white building, the typical American school-house of the present day. The villages showed less improvement than the farming coun- try ; for l^ufifalo more and more absorbed the trade of all the country around. That city was again on the high tide of suc- cess. No financial depression could long hinder the growth of the mighty West, and, as there were no through lines of railway, its produce must be poured through the Eric canal. Great fleets transferred their cargoes of gi"ain from the lake to the canal, at Buffalo, and the vicinity of the harbor swarmed with thousands of laborers. New streets were laid out, and old ones pushed their way far- ther into the country. New and better buildings rose, too, on the sites of old ones, but not of a very high order ; Buffalo has never been distinguished by the splendor of its architecture. The grand crash of 1836 came too soon to allow the newly- found wealth of the citizens to bloom into architectural magnifi- cence, and j)robab!y remembrance of it lias tended very strongly BUFFALO MEDICAL COLLEGE. 435 to repress all seven-story aspirations. Not only has no attempt been made to equal Rathhun's abortive Exchange, but the busi- ness blocks of Buffalo are plainer in appearance than those of almost any other city of its size in the country. One grand project was originated about 1845, but it was only partially carried out. This was the "University of Buffalo." A charter was procured for a grand institution of learning, in- tended to rival Harvard and Yale, with separate departments for the liberal professions. Under this charter, the medical de- partment was organized in August, 1846, as the Buffalo Medical College. It soon took, and has ever since maintained, high rank among American institutions of that class, while the university of which it was to be a part has disappeared even from the imaginations of men. Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, Dr. Austin Flint and Dr. James P. White soon took the lead among the instructors of the infant college, and are designated as its founders by those who best know its history. After bringing the institution to a high de- gree of efficiency, Hamilton and Flint went to the city of New York, where they now stand in the front rank of the physicians of the metropolis, while Dr. White remained at the head of the Buffalo college. In 1846 a new State constitution was formed, being, except some amendments, the same under which we now live. By its provisions, judges, district-attorneys and nearly all other officers were to be elected by the people. It also provided that senators should hold but for two years, and that there should be a sen- atorial district for every senator, and an assembly district for every assemblyman. The court of Common Pleas was ex- changed for a county court, presided over by a county judge. There were no associate judges, but in criminal cases he was to be assisted by two justices of sessions. The State was also divided into eight judicial districts, each of which elected four justices of the Supreme Court, Erie county being in the eighth district. The new constitution was ratified by the people in 1846, but no officers were elected under it until the next year. In the fall of 1846, Timothy A. Hopkins of Amherst, son of the early pioneer and soldier, General Hopkins, was elected sheriff, and Moses Bristol of Buffalo, county clerk. At the same 436 A DEMOCRATIC VICTORY. time Horatio Shumway of Buffalo, John D. Howe of Alden. William H. Pratt of Eden, and Obadiah J. Green of Sardinia, were elected to tlie a.ssembl\^ The increase from three to four members was the result of the new apportionment, under the census of 1845. A special election was held in June, 1847, to choose judi- cial officers and district-attorneys, as directed by the new con- stitution. The eighth judicial district being overwhelmingly Whig, four Whig justices of the Supreme Court were elected, among whom were Seth E. Sill of Buffalo, and James Mullett of Chautauqua county, who also kept an office in Buffalo. In this county, however, owing to a defection among the Whigs, all their candidates were defeated — for the first time since the organiza- tion of the party. The Democrats elected Frederick P. Stevens county judge, Peter M. Vosburgh surrogate, and Benjamin H. Austin district-attorney. In the succeeding autumn the first State officers were chosen under the new constitution. Millard Fillmore was nominated by the W^higs for comptroller. The fight between the " Hunker" and " Barnburner" wings of the Democracy w^as then in full blast, and Mr. h'illmore and his associates were elected by a large ma- jority. At the same time John T. Bush, of Tonawanda, was chosen as State senator from the 31st senatorial district, (Erie county,) with the following assemblymen : Elbridge G. Spauld- ing and Harry Slade of Buffalo, Ira E. Irish of Hamburg, and C. C. Severance of Concord. In June, 1848, after Gen. Taylor had been nominated for the Presidency by the Whig national convention at Philadelphia, Mr. Fillmore was selected for the second place on the ticket. The Democratic national convention nominated Cass and But- ler for President and Vice-President, but the contest was not confined to the two tickets just named. The " Barnburners," or Radical Democrats, had espoused the cause of the Wilmot Proviso, which was intended to exclude slavery from the terri- tory lately acquired from Mexico. The proceedings of the Dem- ocratic convention at Baltimore not having been satisfactory to them, the " Barnburners " met in convention at Utica, and nom- inated Martin Van Buren for President, with a Vice-Presidential candidate from the West, who declined the honor. THE BUFFALO CONVENTION. 437 As it was desired, however, to unite as many as possible of the opponents of slavery-extension throughout the country, the cel- ebrated Buffalo convention was called to meet in that city. Thus it was that on the ninth day of August, 1848, the Oueen City of the Lakes was crowded with distinguished strangers, and with numerous residents of the vicinity, about to take part in the only political assemblage of national interest which has ever met within its limits. It was a mass convention, attended by men from every North- ern State, and also from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. A great tent had been erected in the court-house park, and at noon the multitude assembled beneath it was called to order. Nathaniel Sawyer, of Ohio, was elected temporary chairman. A committee on permanent organization was then appointed, consisting of one from each State represented. Of its members many have since died, and all hav^e ceased to be known in polit- ical circles, with one exception : Michigan was represented by Isaac r. Christiancy, now senator from that State. At the beginning of the afternoon session the park was tilled with an eager throng, and large numbers congregated in the ad- jacent streets. The committee on organization, through their chairman, Preston King, reported the name of Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, as president of the convention, who was forthwith elected. Thereupon a committee of two escorted to the chair a small, unpretendmg man, scarcely forty years of age, but looking somewhat older from partial baldness, who then for the first time became prominent before the nation, but who has since been a leader among its statesmen, has fulfilled its most important diplomatic trusts with consummate skill, and now remains almost the only survivor of the then eminent mem- bers of the convention, over which he presided twenty-eight years ago. One of the committee who attended him to the chair was a robust, broad-shouldered man, about thirty-eight years old, with a bold, high forehead, a compressed mouth, and a face written all over with the evidence of courage and determination. This was Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, then just entering on his bril- liant and useful national career. A committee on resolutions was appointed, of which Benjamin 438 CHASE, BUTLER AND GIDDINGS. F. Butler was chairman. That gentleman has been obliterated, as it were, by another political luminary bearing the same name, but m his day Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, was a power in the land, being the right-hand man of Mr. Van Buren in his political contests, and attorney-general of the United States during his friend's Presidency. For the purpose of equalizing the representation a committee of conference, consisting of six conferees-at-large from each State, and three from each congressional district, was appointed by the delegates of the respective States, to whom was referred the nomination of candidates. While awaiting the action of these committees several gen- tlemen addressed the convention, and members of the celebrated Hutchinson family sang their inspiring songs of freedom. Among the speakers none attracted more attention than a tall, white-haired old man, whose bold and vehement denunciations of slavery were cheered to the echo by the multitude. This was Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, long known as the Nestor of the anti-slavery contest. There were several other speakers, and seated modestly with the Massachusetts delegation was a young cfentleman, since well known to fame as Richard H. Dana, Jr. The committee of conference met at the court-house in the evening, and appointed Salmon P. Chase chairman, but declined to nominate candidates until the convention should have adopted a platform of principles. The next morning the proper committee reported a series of resolutions, embodying the creed of the free-soilers, which was substantially the same as that afterwards promulgated by the Republican party. While repudiating all claim on the part of the Federal government to interfere with slavery in the States, they declared that that institution should be prohibited in all the territory subject to the jurisdiction of Congress. "No more slave States and no slave territories," was the summing up of the whole. Of course they were enthusiastically adopted. On this action being reported to the committee of conference, which had met in the Second Universalist church, they pro- ceeded to the nomination of candidates. The selection was by no means a foregone conclusion. Although they were entering on an utterly hopeless contest, and although Mr. Van Buren had VAN BUREN AND ADAMS. 439 been nominated by a convention of the Free-Soil Democrats of New York, who constituted the bulk of the new party, yet there was a strong feeling among the thorough-going anti-slavery men in favor of selecting Hon. John P. Hale, of New Hampshire. Mr. Butler was called on by the committee of conference to explain the position of Mr. Van Buren, and did so at consider- able length. When the informal ballot was taken Martin Van Buren had 244 votes and John P. Hale 181, while 41 were re- ported as scattering. Mr. Van Buren had only 22 majority over all others. However, the vote was at once made unanimous. On consultation, the feeling in regard to the choice for Vice- President was found to be so strong in one direction that all other names were withdrawn, and Charles Francis Adams was unanimously nominated. It was not until the evening of that day that the names adopted by the committee were reported to the mass conven- tion. Mr. Adams, being one of the nominees, called Mr. Chase to the chair, who submitted the nominations to the assemblage. The multitude, which filled the great tent to its utmost capacity, responded with tumultuous cheers, and Martin Van Buren and Charles P^rancis Adams were made the standard-bearers of the " Free Democratic " party in the coming campaign. David Dudley Pleld then read a letter from Mr. Van Buren, several short but vigorous speeches were made, and .it was eleven o'clock ere an adjournment was carried, and the Buffalo Con- vention became a thing of the past. Although its nominees did not carry a single State, yet its action had .a strong influence in strengthening the growing opposition to slavery propagandism, which at length resulted in the entire overthrow of the in- stitution. Its only apparent result that year, however, was to give the State of New York to the Whigs, and cause the election of Gen. Taylor and Mr. P'illmore. At the same time, Elbridge G. Spaulding was chosen as member of Congress from Erie county, the assemblyman elect being Benoni Thompson of Buffalo, Au- gustus Raynor of Clarence, Marcus McNeal of Newstead, and Luther Buxton of Evans. Christian Metz, Jr., was elected county treasurer. The next spring a citizen of Erie county was installed in the 440 AN ERIE COUNTY PRESIDENT. second office in the Republic. As Vice-President, Mr. Fillmore's only duty was to preside over the senate, a duty for which his equable temperament and judicial turn of mind peculiarly fitted him. In the autumn of 1849, George R. Babcock was chosen State senator, while Orlando Allen and Elijah Ford of Buffalo, Ira E. Irish of Hamburg, and Joseph Candee of Sardinia, were elected to the assembly. Le Roy Farnham of Buffalo was chosen sheriff, and Wells Brooks of Concord, county clerk. On the 9th day of July, 1850, General Taylor died, and Mil- lard Fillmore became President of the United States. Fie was then fifty years of age ; it was twenty-one years since he had entered public life as a member of the assembly, twenty-seven years since he had commenced the practice of law in Aurora, and thirty-one years since he had been a clothier's apprentice. His first task was of course the formation of his cabinet. In selecting its members, after making Daniel Webster secretary of state, Thomas Corwin secretary of the treasury, and John J. Crittenden attorney-general, he called his former student and partner, Nathan K. Hall, who had been a member of Congress but a single term, to the office of postmaster-general. The seeming favoritism occasioned some comment, but Mr. tlall's unquestioneci integrity, sound judgment and laborious devotion to duty well fitted him for the post to which he was called, and it is doubtful if it has ever been more worthily filled. Congress was still in session when Mr. Fillmore became Pres- ident, and all through the hot summer months it continued to wrestle with problems caused, and passions aroused, by the same question of slavery which ten years later came to a bloody ar- bitrament. Both houses at length passed the celebrated "Com- promise Measures" embodied in five acts, which provided for the admission of California, the organization of the territories of New Mexico and Utah without any prohibition of slavery, the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and the summary return of fugitive slaves, claimed to have escaped from one State to another. The President signed them all. The last named act, commonly called the Fugitive Slave Law, was strongly denounced by a large portion of the Whig party, as well as by a considerable number of the northern Democrats. LODI AND GOWANDA. 441 It is not necessary here to discuss the merits or demerits of that hiw, nor of the compromise measures generally. Notwithstand- ing the opposition just referred to, all those measures were sanc- tioned by a majority of both parties, and for a short time the excitement regarding slavery sank to comparative quiet. Mr. Fillmore's friends were naturally desirous that his own county should be represented by some one who approved his course, and it was probably for that reason that Solomon G. Haven, the third member of the renowned firm of Fdlmore, Hall & Haven, was brought forward as a candidate for Congress. There was a very earnest contest for the Whig nomination, but Mr. Haven carried the convention, and was duly elected in No- vember. By the census of 1850 the population of the county was 100,993, an increase of 22,358 in five years, while that of Buff'alo was 42,261, an addition of 12,488 to the number in 1845. Near the close of this decade, (about 1848,) the village on the Cattaraugus, first called Aldrich's Mills and then Lodi, suftered another change of title. The fact that there were a village and a post-office called Lodi, in Seneca county, caused constant con- fusion in regard to letters. There had by this time grown up a thriving place on both sides of the Cattaraugus, the people of which thought themselves numerous enough to be incorporated as a village. They determined to have a name entirely unique, and they succeeded. The village was incorporated as " Go- wanda," and it is safe to say that that name is not mistaken for any other. The village is partly in Erie and partly in Cattar- augus counties, and has, since its incorporation, been steadily growing into one of the most flourishing places in Western New York. No new town was formed during the semi-decade under con- sideration until October 15th, 1850, \\hen Hamburg, which had stood unchanged since 1812, was divided by the board of super- visors, who were then intrusted with the necessary power. All but the two western tiers of lots in township Nine, range Seven, were included in the new town, which received the name of Elli- cott. It was organized by the election of officers the next spring. The name was soon changed to East Hamburg. The mayors of Buffalo, during the five years treated of in this 29 442 SUPERVISORS FOR FIVE YEARS. chapter, were Solomon G. Haven in 1846, Elbridge G. Spaul- ding in 1847, Orlando Allen in 1848, Hiram Barton in 1849, and Henry K. Smith in 1850. The following- is a list of the supervisors of the county, so far as known, during the same period : Alden, 1846, John D. Howe; 1847 and "48, Alexander Kellogg; 1849, Nathan Willis; 1850, Ziba Durkee. Amherst, 1846, John Her- shey; 1847, '48 and 49, Jasper B. Youngs; 1850, unknown. Aurora. 1846, Hezekiah Moshier ; 1847, '48 and '50, Hiram Harris; 1846, William Boies. Black Rock, 1846, William A. Bird; 1847, Robert McPherson ; 1848, '49 and '50 Warren Granger. Buffalo, First ward, 1846 and '47, W. W. Stanard ; 1848, Van Rens- selaer Newell ; 1849, H. W. Millard ; 1850, C.S. Pierce. Second ward, 1846, N. H.Gardner; 1847, '48, '49 and '50, William Ketchum. Third ward, 1846, Moses Bristol; 1847 and '50, Henry Daw ; 1848 and '49, Jeremiah Staats. Fourth ward, 1846, Dyre Tillinghast ; 1847 and '48, Henry P. Darrow ; 1849, Horatio Warren; 1850, I. V. Vanderpoel. Fifth ward, 1846, '47 and '48, Peter Curtis ; 1849 and 50, K. J. Baldwin. Boston, 1846, "47 and 49, Orrin Lockwood ; 1848, Allen Grifhth : 1850, John Anthony. Brant, 1846, '47, '49 and '50, Jonathan Hascall, Jr.; 1848, Horace Goodrig. Clarence, 1846, and '50, Thomas Dur- boraw ; 1847, Archibald Thompson; 1848 and '49, Orsamus Warren. Cheektowaga, 1846, '48 and '49, Manly Brown ; 1847, Alexander Hitchcock ; 1850, E. P. Adams. Colden, 1846, Benjamin Maltby ; 1847 3nd 48, Cyrus Cornell ; 1849 and '50, Charles H. Baker. Collins, 1846, '47 and '48, Thomas Russell ; 1849 and '50, Ralph Plumb. Concord, 1849, C. C. Severance ; 1850, C. C. Sears. Eden, 1846, Wm. H. Pratt; 1847 and '49, Pardon Tefft ; 1850, Nelson Welch. Evans, 1847, Joseph Bennett; 1850, John Borland. Hamburg, 1846, Clark Dart; 1847 and '48, Isaac Deuel; 1849, Jesse Bartoo ; 1850, Jacob Potter. Holland, 1846, '47, '49 and '50, Moses McArthur ; 1848. J^hilip D. Riley. Lancaster, 1846 and '48, Jonathan W. Dodge ; 1847, Milton McNeal ; 1849, Robert Neal ; 1850, Henry Atwood. New- stead, 1850, H. S. Hawkins. Sardinia, 1846, B. H. Colegrove ; 1847, and :|8, Thomas Hopkins ; 1849, Joseph Candee ; 1850, Henry Bowen. Tonawanda, 1846 and '47, James Carney; 1848, '49 and '50, J. H. Phillips. Wales, 1846 and '47, David S. Warner; 1848, '49 and '50, James Wood. I will now devote a few pages to a brief account of a peculiar society, which settled in the county during the period under con- sideration. Soon after the final sale of the Buffalo Creek reser- vation and the removal of the Indians, a German society began negotiations for the purchase of a large tract near Buffalo. About the year 1845, five thousand acres were conveyed to them, to which they afterwards added five thousand more. Their tract lay at the west end of the reservation, in the present THE EBENEZER SOCIETY. , 443 town of West Seneca, and embraced the old Indian villai;c and the clearings around it. In 1845 and '46, the purchasers moved to their new home. They were generally known as the Ebenezer Society, and com- prised nearly two thousand Germans — men, women and children — mostly from Rhinish Prussia, and Hesse. All their property was held in common, everything being controlled by a board of managers, or trustees. These w^ere commonly called " el- ders," but were not religious ministers. These managers di- rected what buildings should be built, what lands should be ploughed, what crops should be sown. They lived in separate families, but the managers allotted to each their allowance of provisions and clothing. A law was passed permitting them to hold their property according to their own regulations, and throughout their residence in the county they had very little communication with the outside world, ex- cept through their agents. Of these the chief, and the principal manager of their outside business, was Charles Meyer, a native of the city of Hamburg, who had been a merchant in Brazil, and was a most excellent business man and financier. Hon. George R. Babcock was their legal adviser. Their residences, which were large, substantial, frame build- ings, capable of holding two or more families, were grouped in two villages, and two or three smaller clusters. What most struck the eyes of their American neighbors, was their method of work- ing. The sight of great gangs of men and women, fifty to a hun- dred in number, engaged in the ordinary avocations of the farm, was something entirely new to the eyes of Erie county people. Especially striking was it to see, in harvest-time, on the rich flats of the Cazenove, a row, half a mile long, of women, a few yards apart, reaping with sickles the grain of the community. Another curiosity to Yankee eyes was the shepherd, with his little portable residence and his watchful dogs, pasturing his sheep by the roadside, and on the grass-bordered paths leading through the grain. By this means every spear of grass was saved, and not a spear of grain was lost. Their religious creed appears to have been somewhat like that of the Quakers. They depended much on spiritual insight, but did not neglect stated services. Prayers were held every day. 444 GERMAN PROGRESS. They strenuously avoided all conflicts of every description. At one time, under a law passed by the legislature, a circular was sent out by the secretary of state of New York to all city, town and village authorities, asking for information which might bear on numerous social questions. Each local board was requested to state how many paupers there were within their jurisdiction, how many lawsuits in a given time, how many crimes commit- ted, how many minor offenses, etc., etc. On receiving one of these circulars, the Ebenezer managers took it to Mr. Babcock, who explained its meaning, and told them to draw up an answer to its queries. In due time they returned with the reply. It was very simple; there were no paupers among them; none of them had ever received any relief from the civil authorities ; none of their number had ever been convicted of or indicted for any crime; none had ever been punished for any misdemeanor; none of them had ever had a lawsuit, either among themselves or with outsiders. And the report was literally true. In one or two cases of quarrels with outsiders, the managers immediately settled them without allowing them to go to a legal arbitrament. Meanwhile the German element had increased largely in both city and country. After the disturbances in Europe in 1848, a fresh impetus was given to German emigration. Some brought capital ; nearly all brought habits of industry, frugality and order which were certain to bring them at least a moderate de- gree of success. Many were added to the German settlements in Collins, Eden, Hamburg, Cheektowaga and Lancaster, and still larger numbers filled up Batavia and Genesee streets, and began to spread over all the northeastern part of Buffalo. The German love of music soon began to show itself in their adopted country. In 1847 the Buffalo " Liedertafel " was organized, and has ever since remained a permanent institution of the city. In 1850 Mr. George J. Bryan founded a newspaper called the Daily Queen City. Two years later the name was changed to the Buffalo Evening Post, under which name it is still published. The Springville Herald (weekly) was also in that year established in Springville by E. D. Webster. After divers changes it is now the Journal and Herald. Still another journalistic venture of that year, which has proven permanent, was the Buffalo Chris- tian Advocate, the organ of the Methodist Church. GENERAL IMPROVEMENT. 445 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE SIXTH DECADE. General Improvement. — Stump Fences. — West Seneca. — Enlargement of Buffalo. — North Collins. — Grand Island. — President Fillmore's Administration. — Coun- ty Officers and Members of the Legislature. — Supervisors. — Marilla. — Polit- ical Changes. — The American and Republican Parties. — The Contest of 1856. — Mr. Fillmore's Retirement. — His Father. — "The Old Colonel." — A Curi- ous Scene. — Another Official List.— The Panic of 1857.— Elma. — Removal of the Ebenezer Colony. — Perfect Honesty. — Supervisors after Increase of Buffalo. — 1860. — The Approaching Storm. The forepart of this period wa.s hkewise a time of great gen- eral prosperity. The farmers, now mostly out of debt, still further improved their property, and even the back roads showed hundreds of neat, white houses, with outbuildings to correspond. Before their front yards, handsome board or picket fences super- ceded the crooked barrier of rails, which still did duty around the rest of the farm. As the old well-sweep had been super- ceded by the windlass, so the latter was now replaced by the still more convenient pump. It was about this time that the farmers in the pine districts began to rid themselves of their veteran stumps. The hard- wood stumps rotted down in a few years after the trees were cut, but the pines remained intact after twenty, thirty, or even forty years of lifelessness, and seemed likely to defy the attacks of centuries. Machines of various kinds were invented, and ere long the business of pulling stumps became an important part of the industry of the piney regions. These, when pulled, were generally placed in the road-fence, the bottoms of their roots facing outward, forming one of the most durable, though also one of the homeliest enclosures ever known. Notwithstanding the general improvement in the rural districts, the amount of grain raised did not increase, as the farmers engaged more and more in the dairy business, and in raising hay, potatoes, etc., for the Buffalo market. As a rule, the villages remained nearly 446 15UFFALO ENLARGED. dormant, though exceptions were seen in Akron, Lancaster, Marilla. White's Corners, Angola and Gowanda. Tonawanda, too, for a while did considerable grain business, but in 1854 or '55 its elevator was burned, and trade again suffered a depression. On the i6th of October, 185 i, a new town was formed, called "Seneca." It was entirely a part of the Buffalo Creek reserva- tion, and comprised almost all that part of it previously em- braced in the towns of Black Rock, Cheektowaga, Hamburg and East Hamburg. The Ebenezer colony comprised the greater part of its inhabitants. As its name clashed with one some- where else in the State, it was changed the next spring to "West Seneca." There had been an attempt, two years before, by the board of supervisors, to organize a town with substantially the same boundaries, by the appropriate name of Red Jacket, but I believe it failed through lack of confirmation by the legislature. Buffalo continued to engulf the business of the county ; its streets pushing out in every direction, and its houses overflow- ing the old city line into the town of Black Rock. At length it was determined to extend the municipal boundaries, and, as the population was then rapidly increasing, it was thought best to make the city large enough for all exigencies. Accordingly, by a new charter, granted in April, 1853, the whole town of Black Rock was included in the city of Buffalo. The new metropolis was nine miles long, north and south, by from three to six miles wide, with an area of about forty square miles. This magnifi- cent municipal domain was divided into thirteen wards, which still remains the number. The mayors, up to this time, were James Wadsworth in 1H51, Hiram Barton in 1852, and Eli Cook in 1853. Ever since the division of Amherst, Collins had been the largest town in the county. On the 24th of November, 1852, that part of it north of the line between townships Seven and Eight (except the southernmost tier of lots) was formed into a new town called Shirley, the name being derived from a little hamlet and post-office two miles southwest of Kerr's Corners. But, as in the case of East Hamburg, the inhabitants soon be- came tired of any name which did not remind them of the old town in which they had so long resided, and the next spring "Shirley" was changed to "North Collins." PRESIDENT FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. z|47 That same autumn, on the 19th of October, Grand Island was organized as a town. Thus, at length, the locality which had been the seat of "Governor" Clark's independent national- ity, and of Major Noah's Hebrew-judge government, was sup- plied with the more humble, but more appropriate, organization of an American town. The population was still sparse, and most- ly distributed along the shores of the Island, but their isolated position made a separation seem desirable. President Fillmore's course, after the passage of the compro- mise acts, was in harmony with his party, and his administra- tion of the government was creditable both to his ability and integrity. He was, however, considered the leader of the con- servative portion of the party, and when the Whig national con- vention assembled, in 1852, he was opposed by all those who considered themselves more progressive, especially in regard to slavery. The convention nominated Gen. Scott, over both Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Webster. Though his selection was looked on as a defeat of the conservatives, yet the " platform " was as decidedly in favor of the compromise measures as Mr. Fillmore himself could have desired. As it turned out, it made but little difference who received the nomination, since the Whig party was overwhelmingly defeated, and probably would have been with any candidate it could have selected. The previous year (185 1) George R. Babcock had been re- elected to the State .senate, while for the assembly the success- ful candidates were Israel T. Hatch of Buffalo, Jasper B. Youngs of Amherst, Aaron Riley of Aurora, and C. C. Severance of Concord. At the same time, Jesse Walker was elected county judge, and Charles D. Norton surrogate. In 1852 Judge Walker died, James Sheldon (son of the early lawyer of that name) was appointed in his place for a few months, and in November was elected for the full term. A Ut- tle later, Mr. Williams resigned the district-attorneyship, and John L. Talcott was appointed for the remainder of the term. In that November, also, S. G. Haven was reeelected to Congress, Joseph Candee, of Sardinia, was chosen sheriff, and VVm. Andre, of Buffalo, county clerk. The members of assembly then elect- were Almon M. Clapp of Buffalo, Wm. T. Bush of Tonawanda, Israel N. Ely of Cheektowaga, and Nelson Welch of Eden. 448 SUPERVISORS FROM 1 85 I TO 1 85 3. In, 1853, Albert Sawin, who had removed from Aurora to Buffalo, was elected district-attorney, and James O. Putnam State senator. The assemblymen chosen were Wm. W. Weed and Rollin Germain of Buffalo, Charles A. Sill of Wales, and Edward N. Hatch of Boston. Benjamin F. Greene, of Buffalo, was elected a justice of the Supreme Court in place of Justice Sill, deceased, or rather in place of Justice Taggcrt of Batavia, who occupied the seat of the deceased justice a short time, by appointment. The supervisors up to the time of the extension of Buffalo were as follows : Amherst, 1851 and '52, Emanuel Herr ; 1853, Christian Z. Frick. Alden, 1851, Asa Munn ; 1852 and '53, Nathan Willis. Aurora, 1851 and '52, Daniel D. Stiles; 1853, George W. Bennett. Boston, 1851, Perry Cobb; 1852, Orrin Lockwood ; 1853, E. Blanchard. Brant, 185 1 and '52, Jonathan Hascall ; 1853, Kester Tracy. Black Rock. 1 85 1, Warren Granger; 1852, Samuel B. Love; 1853, Frederick P. Stevens. Buffalo, first ward, 185 1 and '52, Miles Jones; 1853, Patrick Milton. Second ward, 1851 and '52, Orlando Allen; 1853, Charles E. Young. Third ward, 1851, E. D. Loveridge ; 1852, L. E. Harris: 1853, P. W. Sawin. Fourth ward, 1851, I. V. Vander])oel ; 1852 and '53, Joshua M. Wilbur. Fifth ward, 1851, E. J. Baldwin; 1852 and '53, Charles E. Clarke. Cheektowaga, 185 1, Manly Brown ; 1852, Is- rael N. Ely; 1853, Marvin Seamans. Colden, 1851 and '52, William A. Calkins; 1853, O. P. Buffum. Clarence, 1851, '52 and '53, James D. Warren. Concord, 185 1, '52 and '53, Seth W. Goddard. Collins, 185 I, Thomas Russell; 1852 and '53, S. Cary Adams. Ellicott, 1851, Amos Chilcott ; East Hamburg, (to which the name of Ellicott was changed,) 1852, Isaac Baker; 1853, Jacob Potter. Evans, 1852, Jo- seph Bennett ; 1853, Myron D. Winslow. Eden, 1851 and '52, Nelson Welch; 1853, Pardon Tefft. Grand Island, 1853, John Nice. Ham- burg, 1851 and '52, John Clark; 1853. Ira Barnard, Jr. Holland, 185 1, Moses McArthur; 1852, Abner Orr ; 1853, Ezra Farrington. Lancaster, 1851 and '52, Henry S. Bingham; 1853, J. Parker. New- stead, 185T, Lorenzo D. Covey; 1852 and '53, Edward Long. North Collins, 1853, E. W. Godfrey. Sardinia, 1851 and '52, Joseph Candee: 1853, Mitchel R. Loveland. Tonawanda, 185 1, '52, and '53, Theron W. Woolson. Wales, 185 1, James Wood; 1852 and '53, Charles A. Sill. West Seneca, 1852, Levi Ballou, Jr. ; 1853, Erasmus Briggs. On the 2d day of December, 1853, a new town was formed, called Marilla. It comprised all of the old Buffalo Creek reser- vation within the limits of Wales and Alden, except the mile- and-a-half-strip on the north side, first sold off. A strip about a mile and a quarter wide, within the limits of the survey town- ship, (township Ten, range Five,) but lying outside and east of POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION. 449 the reservation, had for convenience been left in Genesee county at the original division, in 1808, so that Marilla is only about four and three fourths miles wide by five and a half long. A settlement had grown upon the east line of the tract first sold, which in its early days went by the uncouth name of Shanty Town, the inhabitants being largely devoted to the manufacture of shingles. When the rest of the reservation was sold, the rude hamlet began to assume the appearance of a village, Niles Carpenter built a store there about 1850, and afterwards a tavern. When the new town was organized, the chief settle- ment, too, soon took the name of Marilla, white houses began to appear, streets were laid out, and in a very short time the an- cient "Shanty Town" became one of the handsomest little vil- lages in Western New York. Up to this time (1853) the Whig party had, during its whole existence, maintained complete control of the county, electing every member of Congress, every State senator, nearly every assemblyman, and all the county officers except in 1847, when there was a temporary defection. At each election the result could be predicted with almost infallible certainty. But in 1854 came the repeal of the Missouri compromise, followed by the general indignation of the North, and the taking of steps to •organize a new, anti-slavery party. Almost at the same time the American, or "Know-Nothing," party began its existence in secret lodges, which soon spread rapidly over a large portion of the country. Its creed of opposition to foreign and papal in- fluence found many supporters, but its chief strength was received from the conservative members of the Whig party, who saw the time had come for abandoning that organization, but were un- willing to join either the Democrats or the anti-slavery men. The new party made a full set of nominations in this State, their candidate for lieutenant-governor being General Gustavus A. Scroggs, of Buffalo. The Whigs, howeyer, maintained their organization till the fall election, and carried the State. In this county, Mr. Haven, who had voted against the Nebraska bill, was elected member of Congress, and James D. Warren, of Clarence, county treasurer. The assemblymen chosen were William W. Weed and Daniel Devening of Buffalo, Lorenzo D. Covey of Newstead, and Seth W. Goddard of Concord. 450 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. In that year the old Recorder's Court, of Buffalo, was reorgan- ized as the Superior Court, with three judges, holding six years each. The recorder, Geo. W. Houghton, was continued as one of the Superior Court judges till the expiration of his term, two years later. The two judges elected in 1854 were George W. Clinton and Isaac 'A. Verplanck. When Judge Houghton's term expired, Hon. Joseph G. Masten was chosen in his place, and then the court was maintained by successive reelections as thus constituted until within a few years past. In 1855 the Republican party was organized, and received in- to its ranks a large proportion of the voters of Erie county, but not a majority, nor even a plurality. Three tickets were nomi- nated. For the first time in over a quarter of a century, the Democrats carried the county, at a regular election, electing James Wadsworth, of Buffalo, State senator ; Orrin Lock- wood, of Boston, sheriff ; Peter M Vosburgh, of Buffalo, county clerk ; and Abram Thorn, of Hamburg, surrogate. Mr. Deven- ing was reelected to the assembly, his associates being John G. Deshler of Buffalo, John Clark of Hamburg, and Benjamin Maltby of Golden. The next year came the exciting triangular contest between the Democrats, Republicans and Americans, the three parties being more nearly equal in strength in Erie county than in al- most any other in the Union. In February, the National Amer- ican convention nominated Millard Fillmore for the presidency, with A. J. Donelson, of Tennessee, as the vice-presidential can- didate. But that party, after a few spasmodic successes, was al- ready on the wane. In some parts of the country it had almost entirely disappeared. Probably Mr. Fillmore's candidacy helped to keep it alive in this county, and caused the comparative equality, just mentioned, between the three parties. Notwith- standing, however, all local pride as to the candidate, and not- withstanding the elgquence of Solomon G. Haven, who again acted as Mr. Fillmore's lieutenant, and was for the fourth time a candidate for Congress, the American party was third in the race, even in ICrie county. The Democrats carried the county, as well as the nation, elec- ting Israel T. Hatch member of Congress, and James M. Hum- phrey district-attorney. Judge Sheldon, however, was reelected A VENERABLE OLD MAN. 45 I by the Republicans. Rufus Wlieeler, of Buffalo, was chosen presidential elector, the State being carried by the Republicans. The assemblymen elected that fall were Augustus J. Tiffany and George De Witt Clinton of Buffalo, Horace Boies of Hamburg, and S. Gary Adams of Gollins. This was the last appearance of our Erie county President in the political field. The remainder of his life was passed in quiet and dignified retirement, mostly at his residence in Buffalo. I have mentioned several relatives of Mr. Fillmore, all men of grand physical proportions and more than ordinary mental vigor, and all of some local prominence. His father, Nathaniel Fill- more, whom I well remember, living in a low, red house on his farm, a mile south of Aurora village, was, I think, the finest and most venerable looking old man that I ever saw. Some time after his son ceased to be President, the "Old Squire," (as he was commonly called from having been a justice of the peace at some time of his life,) sold his farm and came to live in the village. He was then nearly eighty, tall, large-framed, but not fleshy, nearly erect, with large, intellectual and benevolent fea- tures, crowned with perfectly white hair, and, as he walked the streets of the little village, always neatly attired, the old farmer was the impersonation of venerable dignity. His distinguished son was an eminently fine-looking man, but was not the equal in that respect of the "Old Squire." The President's uncle, Galvin Fillmore, less dignified than his brother Nathaniel, was noted among his townsmen for his genial ways and quaint sayings. Having been a colonel of militia, (as well as a mill-owner, tavern-keeper, and member of assembly,) he was in his later years dubbed "the Old Colonel," by his ac- quaintances. He was a great admirer of Shakespeare, and might frequently be heard in some village resort, quoting passages from his favorite bard, an acquaintance with whom was not, as may be imagined, a common accomplishment among frontier settlers. After he became quite aged he leased his house — a large, old-fashioned, red, frame building, between the two villages of Aurora — to Mr. David Johnson, with whom he boarded. Mr. J. was a shoemaker by trade, but, being himself quite old, did only such work as he could perform at his residence. J . H. Shearer, of Aurora, relates a curious incident which he ob- 452 A CURIOUS SCENE. served at the house just mentioned, one winter afternoon, about 1858 or 1859. Mr. Johnson had located his shoe-bench and its accessories in one of the most comfortable rooms in the house, and there the old colonel was accustomed to sit, and chat, and tell stories, and quote Shakespeare, to such of his neighbors as mi<^ht happen in. On the occasion in question Mr. Shearer, on entering; the room, found Mr. Johnson on his bench, pegging away at a dilap- idated sole, the old colonel near by with a look of eager inter- est on his face, two or three other elderly gentlemen of the neighborhood in listening attitudes, while in the midst of them sat Hon. Millard Fillmore, reading Shakespeare under the direc- tion of his venerable relative. Mr. S. quietly took a seat and the reading proceeded, the deep voice of the ex-President being but slightly interrupted by the noise of Mr. Johnson's shoe-hammer. One selection being con- cluded, the colonel would say : " Now, Millard, read that passage about — " referring to some favorite portion of "Macbeth," or "Julius Cjesar," or "Coriola- nus," as the case might be — and "Millard" would accordingly turn to the designated place, and again deliver the lofty thoughts of Avon's bard in sonorous tones, with a subdued accompani- ment of pegging-hammer. Then another and another passage would be pointed out, and thus for an hour or more the enter- tainment proceeded, apparently to the great interest of the little audience, and certainly to the intense delectation of the old colonel. It was a peculiar scene, and one oddly illustrative of several phases of American life. In 1857 the assemblymen elected were Albert P. Laning and Andrew J. McNett of Buffalo, John T. Wheelock of Lancaster, and Amos Avery of Evans. At the same time Lyman B. Smith, of Buffalo, was chosen county treasurer, and James Wadsworth was reelected State senator. Both were Democrats. By 1858 the American party had become so feeble that it was clearly seen that its continued existence could be of no j^racti- cal use. In this county it dissolved, some of its members join- ing the Republicans, some the Democrats, and some endeavoring to stand aloof from the constantly deepening strife. A combi- THE PANIC OF 1857. 453 nation was formed between the Republicans and a portion of the Americans, by which Elbridge G. Spaulding was elected mem- ber of Congress, Gen. G. A. Scroggs sheriff, and O. J. Greene, of Sardinia, county-clerk. The assemblymen elected were Daniel Bowcn and Henry B. Miller of Buffalo, John S. King of Amherst, and Wilson Rogers of North Collins. The next year the line was pretty closely drawn between Re- publicans and Democrats, the former carrying the county and electing Erastus S. Prosser State senator. Freeman J. Fithian district-attorney, and Charles C. Severance, of Concord, surro- gate. The following gentlemen were the successful candidates for the assembly : Orlando Allen and Henry B. Miller of Buffalo, Hiram Newell of Tonawanda, and Joseph H. Plumb of Collins. This brings us to the eve of the great political struggle of i860. Before narrating that, however, 1 will turn back and devote a few pages to other matters. The tide of prosperity, which in the middle of this decade had been growing and swelling for ten or twelve years, maintained its onward course until the autumn of 1857. The commerce of the West continued to roll through Buffalo, leaving golden deposits as it passed. The county had a ready market for its produce, and the numerous plank-roads teemed with wagons in summer and sleighs in winter, laden with hay, grain, potatoes, and other products of the farm. Similar prosperity was seen throughout the country, though it was more marked here, in consequence of the nearness of a great commercial city. But, as has so often been the case, prosperity brought recklessness and over-trading. The banks inflated the currency beyond what was necessary for bus- iness purposes, and again, as in 1837, inflation was followed by disaster. The crisis came in the fall of 1857. It was not, however, by any means as injurious in its results in this section as that of 1837, both because the preceding spec- ulation and inflation had been less reckless, and because the people were far better prepared to meet it. Their farms were paid for, and their houses were seldom covered with second and third mortgages, as in the time of the great wreck of 1837. There was a good reserve of crops on hand, of valuable improvements, and of other actual property, to resist the shock of financial dis- aster. In some parts of the Far West, where there was no such 454 ELM A AND EBENEZER. reserve, the hard times which followed the panic of 1857 bore a strong resemblance to those consequent on the disaster of 1837, in the East. Still, compared with previous prosperity, the times were "hard" throughout 1858 and '59, and had only just begun to be ameli- orated when the alarum of war gave notice of still severer troubles. On the 4th of December, 1857, a new town was formed from that part of the Buftalo Creek reservation within the limits of Aurora and Lancaster. As in the case of Marilla, it included the mile-strip on the south side, but left the mile-and-a-half- strip, on the north side, in Lancaster. It received the name of Lima, in commemoration of a grand old elm, near the village of that name. Some cynic, who thought the names of Marilla and Elma rather "soft," said that the next new town had better be called " Miss Nancy." To me, however, " Elma " sounds like a very appropriate and euphonious appellation. At all events there has been as yet no opportunity to put the sugges- tion in practice, for no town has been formed since that time, and Elma is still the municipal baby of the county. The managers of the Ebenezer Society found that the prox- imity of a growing city interfered seriously with their control over the younger members of the fraternity. There was alto- gether too much communication with the unregcnerate Yankees, for what they considered the spiritual health of those under their charge. Besides, they wanted more land for cultivation and pasturage. Accordingly, after due invocation of the great spirit of wisdom, they sent agents in 1856 to the West, who se- lected a new home in Iowa. The managers approved their choice, and the rest had naught to do but obey. A large tract of wild land having been secured, the leaders applied to Hon. George R. Babcock to sell their real estate in West Seneca. Some of the circumstances attending the subsequent transac- tions well illustrate the business principles of these men. Mr. B. agreed to sell their land, on condition that they should divide it into suitable tracts, and fix the price and terms on each tract, from which he should make no deviation ; though they might revise the whole whenever they saw fit. To this they readily assented, appointed appraisers who determined the value of each EXTREME HONESTY. 455 piece of land, and these prices were marked on a map hung- in Mr. B.'s office. In 1857 he began selUng. After he had disposed of about a hundred thousand dollars worth, the financial crisis just described came upon the country. Sales suddenly stopped. After wait- ing several months for better times, which did not come, Mr. Babcock notified his principals that they would either have to postpone selling or lower their prices. They decided on the latter course. They accordingly caused a new appraisal to be made, re-marked their map at an average reduction of about twenty per cent., and again brought it to Mr. Babcock. That gentleman promised to press the sales as rapidly as possible, but said : " I suppose some of those who have bought heretofore will feel somewhat dissatisfied at having to pay a larger price than those who purchase hereafter." " We have considered that matter," replied the men of Eben- ezer, " and have determined to lower the price for those who have already bought, in the same proportion as the others." " Indeed," said Mr. B., "and how about those who have paid for their land in cash ? " "The same reduction must be made," replied the Germans, " and the surplus must be refunded to them in money." And these remarkable ideas were actually carried out. The payments of those who had previously bought were reduced as much as those of subsequent purchasers, and to those who had paid in cash an equal percentage was refunded. This was really going further than the strictest honesty required, and might fairly have been called quixotic conduct, yet it forms a not un- pleasant contrast to the ordinary run of business transactions. As soon as the selling was well under way, the managers be- gan transferring their people to Iowa. There was none of the confusion usually attendant on the migration of large numbers. None were removed until there was a place for them at their new home, and work ready for them to engage in. As the sales went forward, the people were transferred, but it was not until 1863 or '64 that the work was entirely completed, and the colonists all settled in their western home. Their lands in West Seneca were almost all purchased by Germans, but in separate tracts. 456 A sevi:n-year list. for the use of individuals. Yet, as the houses were already built in villa, : ^j^ .0 o ^y- V" .^ o.